An engaging survey, thoroughly documented and as ethically nuanced as it is lively.
Introductions to animals that have been selected for their special senses or abilities to perform tasks ranging from testing treated water to predicting earthquakes.
Focusing on eight main subjects but including briefer notes on many more, the roster includes homing pigeons and honeybees but otherwise goes well beyond the usual sorts of animal “helpers.” The book follows a herd of California brush abatement goats employed to reduce wildfire hazards in terrain that is hard for human firefighters to tackle; introduces Eba, a terrier who helps researchers track endangered orcas and is “possibly the only dog in the world trained to sniff killer whale poop”; and describes how the ICARUS program monitors the movements of tagged livestock from space as a way of predicting earthquakes. Along with explaining how dog noses (those “booger-resistant marvels of engineering”), goat stomachs, whiskers, and other specialized body parts function, the authors suggest simple experiments to test our own abilities to follow a scent trail, use echolocation, detect various (nonpoisonous) foreign substances in water, and other tasks that parallel what these animals can do. Musings on the ethical ins and outs of putting other species to sometimes-dangerous work provide food for thought, as do some of the photos (of, for instance, trained dolphins being airlifted in coffinlike stalls) interspersed with Duncan’s lighthearted cartoon illustrations. Both sorts of pictures portray a racially diverse assortment of human figures, and the source notes and bibliography offer unusually wide arrays of leads to information sources, technical or otherwise, for each chapter.
An engaging survey, thoroughly documented and as ethically nuanced as it is lively. (index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1912-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: MIT Kids Press/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
Here is an adventure in a unique setting. The lively text and lovely watercolors document three and a half months of a summer the artist and author spent at the South Pole, as part of the National Science Foundation Antarctic Artists & Writers Program. Hooper describes everyday life aboard the research ship Laurence M. Gould, a sturdy orange icebreaker that scientists use to travel between the islands to study the wide variety of animals who come each year to breed and raise their young. An assortment of penguins, elephant seals, giant petrels, huge skuas, and leopard seals hold center stage. Scientists are less important than the serious business of successfully raising young in the short summer season. The author captures the drama of the ice-cold ocean, alive with life: “Swarms of barrel-shaped blue-tinged salps, stuck together in floating chains. Minute creatures with red eyes. Sliding through the water in a curving path like a ribbon.” The artist provides striking paintings of the landscape and the animals in soft washy colors, and quick pencil sketches. The ice is lemon gold with mauve shadows, and the sea a silver gray in the 24-hour day. Animals are expressive and individual. The krill, the tiny shrimp-like creatures that form the backbone of the ocean food chain, appear in luminous glory. The author concludes with a page on global warming, a map of the islands visited, and an index. From cover to cover a personal and informative journey. (Nonfiction. 7-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7188-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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