ARMADILLO TRAIL

Unknown in the United States before 1850, the nine-banded armadillo has expanded its range northward and eastward as far as Kansas, South Carolina and Florida. Former National Park Ranger Swinburne demonstrates this trend, following a particular female armadillo from the Texas landscape where she was born and raised to adulthood and child-bearing of her own in Kansas. Hiscock’s detailed watercolors extend across the fold of each double-page spread, illustrating the vast landscape, the ungainly mammal’s cozy home and the obstacles and hazards she meets on her journey. The clear text easily brings readers into the journey without actual personification. Both text and pictures are surrounded by generous white space, adding to the sense of potential expansion. Backmatter includes a more general description of the species and a helpful map. As they did for yellow butterflies, sea turtles and snowy owls, this author-illlustrator pair has again provided a fascinating example of the phenomenon of migration in animal behavior. (Informational picture book. 7-10)