The California Condor

Children's Literature

It is impossible to read this book about the California condor and fail to fall in love with this fascinating creature. Ancestors of the condor, some with wingspans of 20 feet, flew over North America 13 million years ago, feeding on saber-toothed tigers and mammoths. More than forty thousand years ago, a related bird, now known as the California condor appeared. A smaller version of the extinct condor, with a wingspan of up to nine and one-half feet, it roamed the western United States, feeding on large mammals, including cattle and other livestock. Unfortunately, because western settlers shot the birds or because the condors ate meat infected with insecticide, the population nearly died off. Thanks to protection programs and breeding in captivity, the condor has made resurgence in recent years. This book, part of the "Returning Wildlife" series, is full of interesting information, informative graphs and maps, and excellent pictures, including photographs of baby condors. The explanation of the decline and reappearance of the bird is a little confusing, and for young readers would be more useful if it were strictly and clearly chronological. However, it is an extremely informative, interesting book for all ages. 2004, Kidhaven Press/The Gale Group/Thomson Learning, Ages 8 to 12.
—Moira Rose Donohue