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Saving Birds: Heroes Around the World
Can they do it? Can they save black robins from extinction in New Zealand when there are only five left in the world? Will they be able to use puppet shows and posters in the rainforests of Mexico to protect the colorful quetzal? Can painted turkey feathers help keep hornbills from being wiped out in Malaysia? Will an environmental problem and a people problem in China be solved so that cranes and local farmers can both thrive? In Israel, can scientists and children and neighbors work against the backdrop of war to save a little falcon? And will decoys and mirrors and sound recordings fool a handsome seabird into nesting safely again on Devil's Slide Rock off the coast of California? The teacher's guide Giving Back to the Earth (below) is ideal for this book.
- GenresNaturePicture Books
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2002
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2020
Pete Salmansohn and Stephen W. Kress - the Audubon Society educator and Audubon Society Seabird Restoration Program director, respectively, who collaborated on the 1997 children's title,
Project Puffin: How We Brought Puffins Back to Egg Rock
- team up once again in this informative picture-book about six endangered avian species from around the world, and the scientists and activists working to protect and save them.
From the almost extinct black robins of New Zealand, whose numbers had plummeted to a staggering five (5!) left in the world, to the common murres of California, whose Devil's Slide Rock colony had been wiped out by a 1986 oil spill, the cases presented in Saving Birds: Heroes from Around the World highlight the potential for population recovery, even in cases of extreme threat. Some, such as the quetzals of Mexico, whose forest home has been threatened by local coffee-farming practices, or the black-necked cranes of China, whose winter wetland feeding grounds have (until recently) been taken over by impoverished farmers, show how human agricultural activity effects the surrounding wildlife. Others, such as the lesser kestrels of Israel, whose habitat continues to shrink, and whose fate is intimately tied to the warring peoples of that part of the world, or the rhinoceros hornbill of Malaysia, whose feathers are used in Sarawak cultural and religious ceremonies, demonstrate that even activities we might see as divorced from ecological concerns - human groups fighting one another, or practicing their traditional religions - are anything but.
In our recent discussion of ecologically-themed picture-books, in the Children's Books Group to which I belong, much was made of the fact that, in addition to educating young readers about the environmental threats facing our world, it is important to also provide hopeful and inspirational stories - to teach that something can be done, if we put our heads together. With more dire news abroad every day (the Gulf Coast oil spill, anyone?), this seems more important than ever, and Saving Birds: Heroes Around the World really fits the bill!
From the almost extinct black robins of New Zealand, whose numbers had plummeted to a staggering five (5!) left in the world, to the common murres of California, whose Devil's Slide Rock colony had been wiped out by a 1986 oil spill, the cases presented in Saving Birds: Heroes from Around the World highlight the potential for population recovery, even in cases of extreme threat. Some, such as the quetzals of Mexico, whose forest home has been threatened by local coffee-farming practices, or the black-necked cranes of China, whose winter wetland feeding grounds have (until recently) been taken over by impoverished farmers, show how human agricultural activity effects the surrounding wildlife. Others, such as the lesser kestrels of Israel, whose habitat continues to shrink, and whose fate is intimately tied to the warring peoples of that part of the world, or the rhinoceros hornbill of Malaysia, whose feathers are used in Sarawak cultural and religious ceremonies, demonstrate that even activities we might see as divorced from ecological concerns - human groups fighting one another, or practicing their traditional religions - are anything but.
In our recent discussion of ecologically-themed picture-books, in the Children's Books Group to which I belong, much was made of the fact that, in addition to educating young readers about the environmental threats facing our world, it is important to also provide hopeful and inspirational stories - to teach that something can be done, if we put our heads together. With more dire news abroad every day (the Gulf Coast oil spill, anyone?), this seems more important than ever, and Saving Birds: Heroes Around the World really fits the bill!
May 9, 2010
This is an inspiring book about people in several different parts of the world who are doing what they can to save endangered wild birds.
This is a beautiful book, filled with many photos of the birds, the people, and the habitats. The photos really give an appreciation for these gorgeous and interesting birds, and the reader gets a better view of them than they’d mostly likely get were they to see them in person.
The stories of each bird species are told separately, and while this is definitely an educational nature book, the accounts are not at all dry.
With the exception of one specific anthropomorphic interpretation: “Old Blue, who was still paired up with Old Yellow, laid three different sets of eggs – a truly amazing accomplishment which surprised all the scientists. Old Blue seemed to know that the job of saving the black robins was her responsibility.” Nope, I doubt it. But, overall, the stories of how people helped and are continuing to try to save bird species seemed accurate and wonderful. I have mixed feelings about humans going to great lengths to interfere with nature, but given that every single one of these bird species is endangered because of human activity, I have no problem, and nothing but admiration, for what these people are doing to help individual birds and their continuation as a species.
Also, the people are just as interesting as the birds.
Covered are black robins in New Zealand, quetzals in Chiapas, Mexico, hornbills in Malaysia, black-necked cranes in China’s Caohai’s countryside, lesser kestrels (a type of falcon) in Israel, and common murres on the Central California coast.
What humans have done to save some of these birds constitute amazing feats. The most compelling and saddest story (about the humans) was the collaboration of Israeli and Palestinian schoolchildren that no longer exists because of the war between their peoples.
The birds and people and their cultures, and certainly the photographs are extremely impressive, and make this a special book. I definitely think some readers will be inspired to engage in some activist work of their own, either helping birds or doing something else for causes they believe in. This book definitely shows that with hard work and dedication, one person (or a few people) can make a huge difference and can feel tremendous satisfaction doing so.
This book deserves to be much more widely read!
This is a beautiful book, filled with many photos of the birds, the people, and the habitats. The photos really give an appreciation for these gorgeous and interesting birds, and the reader gets a better view of them than they’d mostly likely get were they to see them in person.
The stories of each bird species are told separately, and while this is definitely an educational nature book, the accounts are not at all dry.
With the exception of one specific anthropomorphic interpretation: “Old Blue, who was still paired up with Old Yellow, laid three different sets of eggs – a truly amazing accomplishment which surprised all the scientists. Old Blue seemed to know that the job of saving the black robins was her responsibility.” Nope, I doubt it. But, overall, the stories of how people helped and are continuing to try to save bird species seemed accurate and wonderful. I have mixed feelings about humans going to great lengths to interfere with nature, but given that every single one of these bird species is endangered because of human activity, I have no problem, and nothing but admiration, for what these people are doing to help individual birds and their continuation as a species.
Also, the people are just as interesting as the birds.
Covered are black robins in New Zealand, quetzals in Chiapas, Mexico, hornbills in Malaysia, black-necked cranes in China’s Caohai’s countryside, lesser kestrels (a type of falcon) in Israel, and common murres on the Central California coast.
What humans have done to save some of these birds constitute amazing feats. The most compelling and saddest story (about the humans) was the collaboration of Israeli and Palestinian schoolchildren that no longer exists because of the war between their peoples.
The birds and people and their cultures, and certainly the photographs are extremely impressive, and make this a special book. I definitely think some readers will be inspired to engage in some activist work of their own, either helping birds or doing something else for causes they believe in. This book definitely shows that with hard work and dedication, one person (or a few people) can make a huge difference and can feel tremendous satisfaction doing so.
This book deserves to be much more widely read!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews