Tracks of a Panda

Nature Storybooks

by Nick Dowson

Book by Nick Dowson, Yu Rong(Illustrator)

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Science, Childrens, Nonfiction, 1st Grade

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Nick Dowson is the author of TRACKS OF A PANDA and TIGRESS. A teacher and naturalist, he lives in Suffolk, England.

Reviews

[Sheri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Regard both the journey as a newborn panda grows into a strong, young cub and the journey as mother and son travel to a new home in the mountain slopes. Mother pandas choose this solitary life and it is sobering yet heartwarming to consider all that they do to provide for and protect their cub. A beautiful story, both in words and pictures, of love and survival.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a delightful read with some interesting facts on Panda Bears!

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mother panda brings a baby into the world, and teaches it how to survive in their mountain habitat. This picture book blends fiction and nonfiction in a beautiful way. You relate to the mother's search for a safe place for her baby, but you learn so much about the panda's habitat and life along the way. Each page has the story of the mother and her baby, and it has separate sidebars with information about pandas.

The baby panda is born, tiny and pink, in the summer: "Small as a pinecone, pink as a blob of wriggling sunset." It almost reads like poetry. The mother protects it and feeds when she can. As winter comes, mother and baby leave the safety of her den in search of more food in the mountains. Along the way, the mother keeps her cub safe from a wild dog, teaches him to swim, and shows him how to find the right bamboo. This is not a book for school reports, but is a perfect nonfiction picture book. It teaches the reader more about pandas, but leaves them yearning to keep learning about this special animal.

The illustrations are in a traditional Chinese brush and watercolor style. They are simple but moving and give a feeling of the pandas as a real treasure in China.

[Amy Hardy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beauty of the artwork from this book is like pictures that would be framed and observed in an art museum. This book is about a mother and its baby growing through life. There's dangers that a panda faces as it travels to find food and learns about the world around it. I am a big advocate for wildlife, so when I saw this book I thought you never can get enough information on pandas. I would let my students pick a subject each year on a wildlife animal and I always have a lot of students wanting to write about pandas. So I added this book to my collection after reading it myself which I highly enjoyed. This book would be good for younger readers only, due to; the way the sentences are arranged in verse style.

[595AJ__Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tracks of a Panda, by Nick Dowson, combine both a fictional story about a mother panda bear and her newborn baby with interesting informational facts about panda bears. The pictures in this book are created by a Chinese illustrator who used a Chinese painting technique which truly captures the beauty of endangered pandas and gives the story an appropriately “Asian” feel. The text is equally beautiful, with the author using carefully chosen words that convey a tender story about the panda and her cub. I would recommend this story for ages 4-9. It would be a wonderful story to read aloud to students and would also fit in well with a unit study of endangered species.

[Olivia Lagore]

This book tells the story of a mother and baby Panda's journey for survival through text that reads like a story, yet bestows factual information on the reader, and through beautiful and rich illustrations.

[Eric Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book tells the story of a new panda cub and its mother on their journey to find more food and continue the panda's life cycle. This book is a mix of fiction and nonfiction with the story itself being fiction but there are also panda facts incorporated into the text as well. I quite enjoyed this type of informational story telling and because of it I think this is an amazing book for young kids because it keeps the story interesting while still providing information as well.

[James]

A story about a mother panda and her cub’s journey to find a new home, illustrated in a lovely traditional Chinese style by Yu Rong and with Dowson’s narrative that treats the pandas both as real animals and as characters in their own story.

Read with my daughter who loves pandas (and sings about them daily), this immediately got re-read after finishing, a quality of any successful picture book.

[Jenna Guggenmos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. Not very exciting or funny. It was informative on how pandas live, and has a fun fact or little piece of information on every page to inform the reader along with the story line. The story overall was about the pandas first year, going through all the seasons and what pandas do in each season.

[Liam Stamp · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book which has a lot of information surrounding panda’s and their habitats. This book is perfect for year 1 & 2 classes exploring an animal and it’s habitat

[Sherry Scheline]

The kids started this story and liked it. I quickly caught up and finished it with them. It’s delightful.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

a baby panda is born and his first years of life with his mother are chronicled with nonfiction bubbles inserted into the story. elementary and up

[Lauren Owens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tracks of a Panda is a beautifully educational book about the struggles of a mother panda and her baby during the winter. This book is not only a good story to illustrate the life of a panda, but it also has factual information embedded and explicitly provided throughout its pages. I would read this book to my class once for the story and then go back to find the factual information we can use for our benefit during an animal or living things unit. Also, the students could use this book to understand how baby pandas look from birth and track the panda through its baby stages into what looks like a toddler aged panda.

Grade Level: K-3

[Tessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panda Tracks is a book about a mother panda and her. Cub the book follows them on their travels to find food and gives extra facts about pandas.

This book would make a good read aloud. I think it would be good to use in a science class where students are learning about habitats or different animals.

[Sun-Hee Yoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

" I think this author knows a lot about panda," my 5-year-old daughter said. It has so many details, including factual information about panda. It also entertained our eyes with Eastern Asian illustration, which mainly uses water based ink. It is surely Best of the Best!

[Alyssa Casto]

This book is about the adventure of a momma panda and her new little baby. They need to find a new home with shelter and food so they are going to make the journey when the baby is older. It provides fun facts about the panda species that kids will really enjoy learning about

[Amanda S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The giant panda is an animal that is rare, but loved by many. In this story a mother panda's life is chronicled and told beautifully. This informational book is a great way to teach students about exotic animals that they may not have to opportunity to see.

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text is fact-based but reads like small poems. The illustrations echo the traditional Chinese brush paintings and are incredibly evocative.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, delicate illustrations and a text that is simple but lyrical enough to read like a story. A fine example of a non-fiction picture book.

[Shannon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cute little book that talks about how Pandas live, and eat. It didn't really appeal to my kids though,.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

An illustrated story including biological facts on giant pandas.

[Teri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely written story, and in the process you learn a lot about pandas.

[Angela Alonso]

Grade: K to 1st
Combines fiction with fun facts about pandas