Butterflies, buffalo, coneflowers, grasses and more once flourished on the Iowa tallgrass prairie, but soon gave way to farms and towns until little of the prairie remained. In 1960, Iowa Congressman Neal Smith, working with conservationists, determined to save the unique ecosystem by purchasing 2,500 acres of farmland and reconstructing a tallgrass prairie to serve as a nature preserve and teaching center. This title documents the efforts of volunteers, community activists and dozens of field scientists working together to resurrect just such a prairie in Iowa, and reintroduce native plants and animals like prairie violet, upland sandpipers and Regal Fritillary butterfly. The author uses interviews with working scientists to give a human face to agronomists, biologists, botanists and more. Striking photographs on every page capture the drama, excitement and beauty of the prairie. A welcome addition to the Scientists in the Field series. (further readings, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 30, 2005
ISBN: 0-618-39687-X
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2005
The Pumpkin Book (32 pp.; $16.95; Sept. 15; 0-8234-1465-5): From seed to vine and blossom to table, Gibbons traces the growth cycle of everyone’s favorite autumn symbol—the pumpkin. Meticulous drawings detail the transformation of tiny seeds to the colorful gourds that appear at roadside stands and stores in the fall. Directions for planting a pumpkin patch, carving a jack-o’-lantern, and drying the seeds give young gardeners the instructions they need to grow and enjoy their own golden globes. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1465-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
Who is next in the ocean food chain? Pallotta has a surprising answer in this picture book glimpse of one curious boy. Danny, fascinated by plankton, takes his dory and rows out into the ocean, where he sees shrimp eating those plankton, fish sand eels eating shrimp, mackerel eating fish sand eels, bluefish chasing mackerel, tuna after bluefish, and killer whales after tuna. When an enormous humpbacked whale arrives on the scene, Danny’s dory tips over and he has to swim for a large rock or become—he worries’someone’s lunch. Surreal acrylic illustrations in vivid blues and red extend the story of a small boy, a small boat, and a vast ocean, in which the laws of the food chain are paramount. That the boy has been bathtub-bound during this entire imaginative foray doesn’t diminish the suspense, and the facts Pallotta presents are solidly researched. A charming fish tale about the one—the boy—that got away. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-88106-075-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
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