What do you think?
Rate this book
Hello Reader Level 4
Dancing with Manatees
Examines the physical characteristics, behavior, and evolution of this gentle creature.
40 pages, Library Binding
First published April 1, 1994
4 people are currently reading
69 people want to read
About the author
Faith McNulty
51 books21 followersFaith McNulty was an American nonfiction author, probably best-known for her 1980 book The Burning Bed. She was born "Faith Corrigan" in New York City, the daughter of a judge. Young Faith attended Barnard College for one year, then attended Rhode Island State College. But she dropped out of college once she got a job as a copy girl at the New York Daily News. She later went to work for Life magazine. She worked for the U.S. Office of War Information in London during World War II.
McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best children's books.
She also frequently wrote children's books on wildlife, including How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World in 1979 and When I Lived with Bats in 1998. Her 1966 book The Whooping Crane: The Bird that Defies Distinction was written for adults.
Her husband, John McNulty, was also a writer for The New Yorker and with Thomas Wolf, Truman Capote, and Gay Talese, a major figure in the development of the literary genre of creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary journalism or literature in fact. After her husband died in 1956, she remarried, to Richard Martin, a set designer and an inventive designer of set props.
The Burning Bed told the true story of Francine Hughes, who set fire to the bedroom in which her husband was sleeping. Hughes defended herself by saying that her husband had been abusing her for 13 years. The jury at her trial ruled that she had been temporarily insane, and she was found not guilty.
"I can remember my father in his nightshirt, digging for worms for the baby robin in the bathroom. That's the kind of household it was; I had woodchucks in the bathroom, cats, squirrels, chipmunks," McNulty once said.
Toward the end of her life, she wrote a weekly column for The Providence Journal on a local animal shelter run by the Animal Welfare League. Her mother had founded the Animal Welfare League in southern Rhode Island. McNulty had long been known for taking in stray animals at her farm.
She suffered a stroke in 2004. She died at her farm in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
McNulty was a wildlife writer at The New Yorker magazine for several years. In 1980, a collection of her New Yorker work was published as The Wildlife Stories of Faith McNulty. For many years, she edited the annual New Yorker compilation of the year's best children's books.
She also frequently wrote children's books on wildlife, including How to Dig a Hole to the Other Side of the World in 1979 and When I Lived with Bats in 1998. Her 1966 book The Whooping Crane: The Bird that Defies Distinction was written for adults.
Her husband, John McNulty, was also a writer for The New Yorker and with Thomas Wolf, Truman Capote, and Gay Talese, a major figure in the development of the literary genre of creative nonfiction, which is also known as literary journalism or literature in fact. After her husband died in 1956, she remarried, to Richard Martin, a set designer and an inventive designer of set props.
The Burning Bed told the true story of Francine Hughes, who set fire to the bedroom in which her husband was sleeping. Hughes defended herself by saying that her husband had been abusing her for 13 years. The jury at her trial ruled that she had been temporarily insane, and she was found not guilty.
"I can remember my father in his nightshirt, digging for worms for the baby robin in the bathroom. That's the kind of household it was; I had woodchucks in the bathroom, cats, squirrels, chipmunks," McNulty once said.
Toward the end of her life, she wrote a weekly column for The Providence Journal on a local animal shelter run by the Animal Welfare League. Her mother had founded the Animal Welfare League in southern Rhode Island. McNulty had long been known for taking in stray animals at her farm.
She suffered a stroke in 2004. She died at her farm in Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 26, 2014
I really liked this book because it is a leveled book. I think it would be a good book to implement into a guided reading lesson. The book is very informational but it also shares a story. While the book did provide a lot of information, I think the story it tells as well will really help students stay interested. I feel if it just listed and presented a bunch of facts students would lose interest fast and won't really pay attention to what they are reading.
February 28, 2019
We love this book. I spent many summers near a manatee wildlife refuge in FL and have had the opportunity to see them in the wild. My kids have seen them but never in the wild and manatees are one of our favorite animals, so when I saw this book in our library I checked it out. (My daughter was sick and wanted me to pick her books last week.) She really enjoyed learning more about them and it lead to a discussion on how we need to take better care of nature. It’s always a win when it promotes discussion and leads to even more learning.
March 21, 2015
This book is a leveled reader that should be added to everyone's classroom shelf. This book offers nonfiction text with illustrations that create a sense reality that people can help manatees from being endangered. This story is written by Faith McNulty and she wrote about a time when her and a biologist were swimming and monitoring a local group of manatees. This book offers many details about manatees and their lifestyles. It also create a soft sense of appreciation of how gentle manatees are. I chose this book because of the topic and the inviting illustration on the front. This book can be used for a zoo unit about studying manatees as a research project, or just for a student that is at this level of reading and it sparks an interest for guided reading purposes. The closest zoo I know of that has manatees is the Indianapolis Zoo.
February 21, 2011
Fun story. I learned that manatees never fight, ever. Not each other, not to preserve their babies. They just don't. They have "toe nails" on their front flippers from when they were land animals.
July 8, 2014
I generally really like these books as they are full of scientific facts and beautiful illustrations. I did enjoy this book but the ongoing story with Woody the Marine Biologist was a little bit too long and a little bit too boring.
Beautiful pictures. Great details of the science.
Beautiful pictures. Great details of the science.
July 29, 2011
A very sweet story about Manatees.
December 13, 2013
Good book to touch on the topic of manatees and their science.
November 30, 2016
Read to me by a student. Great information about the animals, but still told in an entertaining way to hold interest. Very enjoyable afternoon read with a grade-schooler!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews