BIBLIOGRAPHY
Montgomery, Sy. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN: 9780618494170
Bishop, Nic. Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot. New York: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2010. ISBN: 9780618494170
PLOT SUMMARY
This book was about the endangered kakapo parrot in New Zealand and the mission of a fourteen person team to save the last of the ground-dwelling birds. As the story unfolds, the team takes turns watching over different kakapo parrots, specifically one named Lisa and eventually, one named Cyndy, and their chicks. The team experienced wonderful times as they watched baby chicks stay healthy and grow, and they experienced some sadder moments as they watched one of the older kakapo parrots, Bill, die as a grandfather. They also had the joy of learning that the endangered parrot is growing in number, and there is hope for the future of the species.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Kakapo Rescue was an accurately written book, because the author did most of their research on-site with their photographer and consulted with colleagues who were kakapo conservationists in New Zealand. The author also conducted background research about the kakapo parrots and documented their research in a bibliography at the back of the book. Through these forms of research, the author and photographer demonstrated their credibility in writing this book.
As for the organization of the book, the author started the story at an interesting point in the conservationists' work, which involved them watching over a baby kakapo parrot while the mother went out to forage in the middle of the night, which is normal for this kind of parrot. The story continued chronologically from that point with relevant information about the birds mentioned throughout the story. At the end, the reader had learned about all the highs and lows of watching over these parrots and about the different kakapo parrot families that had been developed over the years in New Zealand. They had also been introduced to other information about the parrots that was provided through pictures of specific kakapo parrots, along with the conservationists' reasons for protecting them.
The author was able to keep the reader's attention through the readable layout of each page. Pictures and supplemented information were placed in strategic places throughout the book to keep the reader's attention and help them follow the story with the different character kakapo parrots that were a part of a large family. Through this book design, the style of the book was also interesting to the reader and revealed the author's passion, since the author had spent years researching and waiting to write and share with the world about the kakapo parrots. The author also encouraged questions to be asked throughout the book, since there were chapters that made the reader want to keep reading and find out more answers and information about the kakapo parrots. This was also demonstrated through the last chapter, “P.S.: The Story Continues,” because the author mentioned a website that is devoted to the recovery program of the kakapo parrots, which is updated on a regular basis.
Because of these elements, the reader was able to enjoy the story about the kakapo parrots. They believed it was an accurate portrayal, and its organization, design, and style were interesting and relevant to the kakapo parrots and to those reading about them.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Gillian Engberg (Booklist, Apr. 15, 2010 (Vol. 106, No. 16))
Starred Review* Montgomery and Bishop, whose highly lauded titles include two Sibert Honor Books, offer yet another winning entry in the Scientists in the Field series. This time, the intrepid duo heads to a remote island off the southern tip of New Zealand, where they join a local government-sponsored research team that is working to save the Kakapo parrot from extinction. Weighing in at nearly nine pounds, these beautiful, honey-scented, once-ubiquitous creatures, named “the most wonderful of all living birds” by a nineteenth-century naturalist, have become a symbol of human civilization’s devastating effects on indigenous life, and the New Zealand government is directing significant resources to try to ensure the species’ survival. As usual, Montgomery’s delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Young readers will be fascinated by the incredible measures that the passionate workers follow to help the new birds hatch, and many will share the team’s heartbreak when some chicks die. Bishop’s photos of the creatures and their habitat are stunning; an awe-inspiring, closing image of the world’s eighty-seventh known Kakapo emerging from its shell captures the miracle of birth, for any species. Like many of the team’s previous titles, this offers excellent support for units about animal conservation. Grades 4-7
Starred Review* Montgomery and Bishop, whose highly lauded titles include two Sibert Honor Books, offer yet another winning entry in the Scientists in the Field series. This time, the intrepid duo heads to a remote island off the southern tip of New Zealand, where they join a local government-sponsored research team that is working to save the Kakapo parrot from extinction. Weighing in at nearly nine pounds, these beautiful, honey-scented, once-ubiquitous creatures, named “the most wonderful of all living birds” by a nineteenth-century naturalist, have become a symbol of human civilization’s devastating effects on indigenous life, and the New Zealand government is directing significant resources to try to ensure the species’ survival. As usual, Montgomery’s delight in her subject is contagious, and throughout her enthusiastic text, she nimbly blends scientific and historical facts with immediate, sensory descriptions of fieldwork. Young readers will be fascinated by the incredible measures that the passionate workers follow to help the new birds hatch, and many will share the team’s heartbreak when some chicks die. Bishop’s photos of the creatures and their habitat are stunning; an awe-inspiring, closing image of the world’s eighty-seventh known Kakapo emerging from its shell captures the miracle of birth, for any species. Like many of the team’s previous titles, this offers excellent support for units about animal conservation. Grades 4-7
Barbara L. Talcroft (Children's Literature)
What’s a kakapo? It is a heavy, flightless parrot with moss-green feathers and a smell like that of honey that is on the brink of extinction. Author Montgomery and photographer Bishop have a ten-day pass to visit Codfish Island--just south of New Zealand--to report on the devoted rangers, technical support officers, and volunteers of the National Kakapo Recovery Team, who are attempting to save these unique birds that have dwindled down to a population of only eighty-seven. Since humans and introduced predators have devastated New Zealand’s native wildlife, few people are allowed to visit the isolated island; every item taken there must be disinfected. Distressingly, no one knows exactly when the parrots will decide to breed. The writer and photographer share the recovery team’s daily life, watch the careful preparation of feed, tracking of the birds by telemetry, and the meticulous weighing and data-keeping of precious eggs when they appear. Each parrot has its own personality; the reporters are privileged to observe several of them closely, to help track a female. They share not only the team’s sorrow when one chick and an adult male die unexpectedly, but also their exultation when an egg cracks and a new chick hatches. Bishop’s lushly beautiful photographs help readers explore the island’s trees, ferns, and mosses as well as other birds and wildlife. Teens hoping for a career in conservation science will surely find this well-designed “Scientists in the Field” volume appealing, as will any reader susceptible to the poignancy of a fascinating species so vulnerable and so irreplaceable. 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ages 11 and up.
What’s a kakapo? It is a heavy, flightless parrot with moss-green feathers and a smell like that of honey that is on the brink of extinction. Author Montgomery and photographer Bishop have a ten-day pass to visit Codfish Island--just south of New Zealand--to report on the devoted rangers, technical support officers, and volunteers of the National Kakapo Recovery Team, who are attempting to save these unique birds that have dwindled down to a population of only eighty-seven. Since humans and introduced predators have devastated New Zealand’s native wildlife, few people are allowed to visit the isolated island; every item taken there must be disinfected. Distressingly, no one knows exactly when the parrots will decide to breed. The writer and photographer share the recovery team’s daily life, watch the careful preparation of feed, tracking of the birds by telemetry, and the meticulous weighing and data-keeping of precious eggs when they appear. Each parrot has its own personality; the reporters are privileged to observe several of them closely, to help track a female. They share not only the team’s sorrow when one chick and an adult male die unexpectedly, but also their exultation when an egg cracks and a new chick hatches. Bishop’s lushly beautiful photographs help readers explore the island’s trees, ferns, and mosses as well as other birds and wildlife. Teens hoping for a career in conservation science will surely find this well-designed “Scientists in the Field” volume appealing, as will any reader susceptible to the poignancy of a fascinating species so vulnerable and so irreplaceable. 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Ages 11 and up.
*Booklist Book Review Stars, Apr. 15, 2010
*Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2010; American Library Association
*Booklist Top 10 Books on the Environment for Youth, 2011; American Library Association
*Booklist Top 10 Sci-Tech Books for Youth, 2010; American Library Association
*Booklist Editors’ Choice: Books for Youth, 2010; American Library Association
*Booklist Top 10 Books on the Environment for Youth, 2011; American Library Association
*Booklist Top 10 Sci-Tech Books for Youth, 2010; American Library Association
*School Library Journal Book Review Stars, June 2010; Cahners
*Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, 2011 Winner
*SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science, 2011 Finalist Middle Grades Science Books
*SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science, 2011 Finalist Middle Grades Science Books
CONNECTIONS
*Research endangered species in groups
*Use this story to learn about kakapo parrots
*Compare and contrast the kakapo parrot to other parrots
*Explore conservation
*Other books in the Scientist in the Field Series:
ISBN 9780547152318
Carson, Mary Kay. The Bat Scientists ISBN 9780547199566
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