An endearing lesson in love, responsibility, and kindness.
A girl helps care for two fawns that find their way into the family’s yard in Scott’sillustrated memoir for children.
The young author was 6 years old in 2020 when Covid-19 hit her hometown of Mount Juliet, Tennessee. One day, her grandmother, known as Babi, spotted something out the window and called Scott and her mom over: “When I saw what Babi was showing us, it was like seeing two little shooting stars land right in front of me,” Scott writes. “It was so special! I saw two little wet furry brown creatures.” The creatures were fawns who’d been abandoned by their mother. The author’s parents first made sure that the mother wasn’t returning, then made phone calls to find a wildlife rehabilitator. The pandemic made it impossible to reach one of these rehabilitators, so the family researched how to care for the fawns themselves; Scott named them Amy and Andrew, helped feed them, and played with them. The fawns grew bigger, and finally, after two months, a wildlife rehabilitator called. The specialists weaned the fawns off human contact before releasing them into the wild. Scott was heartbroken, but knew that the family had done the right thing. The book concludes with tips on caring for wildlife responsibly and a series of photographs of the author with the fawns. Each chapter begins with a small, whimsical watercolor illustration by Karabach, which acts as a welcome lead-in to the text that follows. Scott organizes the story into digestible chapters, and each one tells a crucial part of the tale in just a few pages. The book’s balance of narrative, emotion, and educational information is well-executed. The story is engaging throughout, and the account of the joy and sadness felt by the author and her family is expressive and earnest. For example, when the fawns were taken away, Scott writes, “Mom stayed home because she could not watch the fawns go. She told us later that she sat at our piano and played Beethoven for forty minutes nonstop, crying.”
An endearing lesson in love, responsibility, and kindness.Pub Date: May 14, 2024
ISBN: 9798891097568
Page Count: 54
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An enchanting book about the latest research on dolphins, and how people benefit from the new information. Cerullo (The Octopus, 1997, etc.) spent a week at the Dolphin Research Center in Florida, and learned that dolphins “deserved their reputation for friendliness, playfulness, complex social behavior, and group loyalty.” The US Navy studies dolphins to learn about hydrodynamics, echolocation, and deep-diving ability “in order to apply these principles to the design of Navy ships and submarines.” Readers will be fascinated by the descriptions of how dolphins “see” through sonar, and by one of the most interesting roles for dolphins, in therapy programs with children who are coping with cancer, disabilities, or depression. With beautiful full-color photographs, the presentation is appealing and incisive. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-65263-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
“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
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