Ocean Animals in Danger

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The Survivors series debuts with this duo of books about endangered creatures and the conditions that threaten their existence. In each book, brief essays (of about 100 words) introduce 10 animals, from the well-known gray wolf to the Mount Graham red squirrel, which lives only on one Arizona mountain; from the tiny salt marsh harvest mouse of California to the humpback whale, which weighs ``more than six elephants.'' Focusing on species in and around North America, Turbak adopts a kid-friendly tone (e.g., ``If there is a dam nearby, [manatees] like to float in the water rushing out of the dam, like surfing''), which adds even more gravity to his recitations of rudimentary reasons for extinction: human killing, pesticide poisoning, loss of habitat. Watercolor, ink and colored-pencil illustrations endear the animals to young readers without sacrificing accuracy or sobriety. Explanatory labels float around the illustrations, adding information about each creature's anatomy. A rather uninspired appendix recommends that readers learn more about the animals and write letters to Congress. Ages 6-9. (Oct.)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-3While the full-color illustrations in these titles are beautiful, the texts are simplistic and repetitious and do not sufficiently explain the reasons for the near-extinction of the animals discussed or the reasons why they should be saved. Saying only that bald eagles are endangered because of pesticide poisoning does not begin to tell the full story of the near loss of the species and its almost miraculous recovery in recent times. In Ocean, Turbak writes, ``Steller sea lions are endangered because people used to kill them for their fur. Today, they sometimes can't find enough food.'' Why can't they find food, and do people no longer hunt them? ``How you can help'' pages suggest that children write to their congressional representatives to ask that these animals be protected, but do not suggest how they will be protected and from what. Two books that are lovely to look at, but lacking in content.Eva Elisabeth Von Ancken, Trinity Pawling School, NY

Carolyn Phelan

This colorful book introduces children to 10 endangered animals: southern sea otters, Guadalupe fur seals, humpback whales, loggerhead turtles, brown pelicans, manatees, Steller sea lions, salt-marsh harvest mice, sockeye salmon, and right whales. The information given in each one- to four-page section is somewhat spotty regarding subjects such as the animal's size and diet. In the section on the manatee, for example, neither the text nor the illustration indicates the animal's size. However, several sections include a map of current or previous (pre-endangerment) geographical range, and they all end with the reason the species is endangered. The attractive, full-color illustrations vary in style and medium from one page to another. An introductory book on endangered sea creatures that will be mainly of interest to larger libraries.