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Manatee Rescue

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Manatee Rescue

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Overview

Zoologist Nicola Davies merges a heart-pounding adventure with a conservation message triggered by a life-changing—and mind-changing—encounter.

Manuela had imagined that killing a manatee would be like killing a very big fish, just more exciting. But when her father successfully harpoons one, leaving its baby orphaned, she finds that her feelings have changed. She vows to rescue the baby manatee and return it to the river. But she soon realizes what an enormous task she’s taken on. Will she be able to save the baby manatee—and protect him from being hunted in the future, too?

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About the Author

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763678302
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Series:	Heroes of the Wild
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.80(d)
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Nicola Davies is a zoologist and the award-winning author of many books for children, including Surprising Sharks, which was a Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor winner, and The Lion Who Stole My Arm, also illustrated by Annabel Wright. Nicola Davies lives in Wales.

Annabel Wright’s work has been used in campaigns for Amnesty International and the School of Visual Arts in New York and has also appeared in newspapers and magazines such as the Economist and the Financial Times. She lives in Scotland.

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Editorial Reviews

This is a good addition to chapter book collections and will be valuable for understanding animal conservation, familiarizing students with Amazonian cultures, and encouraging grassroots activism for tenacious kids.
—School Library Journal

...This appealing animal-survival adventure is based on a true episode described in an afterword.
—Kirkus Reviews

Young readers will be inspired by this tale, which is based on a true story, and will identify with the characters’ fight for animal conservation.
—Booklist

From the Publisher

09/01/2015
Gr 2–4—Manuela and her father spend much of their days catching fish on the Amazon. When they harpoon an adult manatee (a prized but illegal practice), Manuela and her father find a baby manatee beside their kill. Manuela's father plans to sell the calf, but Manuela, whose mother died when she was a baby, plans a rescue instead. With the help of her courageous cousin, her fearless grandmother, and eventually the entire community, Manuela mothers the manatee and educates the village so the animals are enjoyed not for their meat but for their beauty and gentility. Davies is a zoologist, whose knowledge comes through; she thoughtfully weaves information about the natural world into moments of action and bravery. This book is based on the true story of an orphaned manatee and the efforts of an organization (Natütama) to save the Amazonian creature. Davies includes many Native words with footnotes explaining their definitions. Wright's periodic, bold-line illustrations add an authentic folksy feel to the narrative. VERDICT This is a good addition to chapter book collections and will be valuable for understanding animal conservation, familiarizing students with Amazonian cultures, and encouraging grassroots activism for tenacious kids.—Lindsay Persohn, University of South Florida, Tampa

School Library Journal

2015-09-21
In a remote Amazon village, Manuela and her cousin Libia convince an entire village to cease manatee fishing after the two girls rescue, nurture, and release a manatee calf Manuela accidentally speared while hunting its mother. Watching a manatee die and holding the injured calf she calls Airuwe in her arms is enough to turn Manuela from aspiring manatee hunter to conservationist, but it takes much longer for her to fulfill the silent promise she made to preserve the baby. Raising an orphaned mammal is difficult enough, but there are also threats from both the human and the natural world: the unsavory Clink-Clink, who wants to sell it, and powerful rainy-season floods. Luckily, the girls have the support of their grandmother, a nurse with veterinary experience, and, after an intensive campaign, the community. The third-person narration distances readers a bit, but it allows Davies to weave in details about Amazonian culture and setting as well as the endangered manatees while maintaining gentle suspense. Libia, limping and stunted from a childhood illness, proves skillful in a canoe, and both girls are imaginative and resourceful. Each short chapter includes a grayscale illustration done with brush and pen. Words potentially unfamiliar to general readers are defined in footnotes. Previously published in England as Manatee Baby (2013), this appealing animal-survival adventure is based on a true episode described in an afterword. (Fiction. 8-12)

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