THE CASE OF THE MONKEYS THAT FELL FROM THE TREES

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THE CASE OF THE MONKEYS THAT FELL FROM THE TREES

Name: THE CASE OF THE MONKEYS THAT FELL FROM THE TREES
Author: Susan E. Quinlan
ISBN: 1-56397-902-0

AND OTHER MYSTERIES IN TROPICAL NATURE

by Susan E. Quinlan & illustrated by Susan E. Quinlan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2003

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Outstanding science writing and impressive scholarship make this a first choice for science enthusiasts. The author poses 11 ecological mysteries and carefully describes how scientists set about studying, experimenting, and testing various hypotheses to understand the rain forest. Along the way, she provides a detailed look at how contemporary field scientists work and gives the reader access to many specialized publications like Biotropica, Journal of Animal Ecology, and Toxicon, all carefully listed in the selected resources. As in her previous work, The Case of the Mummified Pig and Other Mysteries in Nature (1994), the author, a field biologist, introduces observations that puzzle scientists: Why do passionflower vines have leaves of different shapes? Where do poison-dart frogs get their poison? Or how come the ithomiine butterfly follows the army ants sipping from bird droppings? She then explains how scientists begin with an observation, develop a hypothesis, and then set up and conduct experiments to support or refute it. Individual mysteries are woven together to provide the reader with a better understanding of the complex and fragile ecosystem of the rain forest and to urge responsible stewardship. Intriguing and enriching. (extensive index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)

Pub Date: March 1, 2003

ISBN: 1-56397-902-0

Page Count: 172

Publisher: Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2003

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CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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HOW TO SPEAK DOLPHIN

by Ginny Rorby ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2015

Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.

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Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?

Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.

Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)

Pub Date: May 26, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2

Page Count: 272

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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FREEING FINCH
by Ginny Rorby

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by Ginny Rorby

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by Ginny Rorby

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RED-EYED TREE FROG

by Joy Cowley ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1999

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Bishop’s spectacular photographs of the tiny red-eyed tree frog defeat an incidental text from Cowley (Singing Down the Rain, 1997, etc.). The frog, only two inches long, is enormous in this title; it appears along with other nocturnal residents of the rain forests of Central America, including the iguana, ant, katydid, caterpillar, and moth. In a final section, Cowley explains how small the frog is and aspects of its life cycle. The main text, however, is an afterthought to dramatic events in the photos, e.g., “But the red-eyed tree frog has been asleep all day. It wakes up hungry. What will it eat? Here is an iguana. Frogs do not eat iguanas.” Accompanying an astonishing photograph of the tree frog leaping away from a boa snake are three lines (“The snake flicks its tongue. It tastes frog in the air. Look out, frog!”) that neither advance nor complement the action. The layout employs pale and deep green pages and typeface, and large jewel-like photographs in which green and red dominate. The combination of such visually sophisticated pages and simplistic captions make this a top-heavy, unsatisfying title. (Picture book. 7-9)