April 1, 2005

The war in Vietnam is over, but the cranes that once covered the winter sky have still not returned. It is Grandfather's dream, which young Nam shares, that the new dikes will mean the land will flood again and the cranes will return. A moving story of a dream come true, and a tangible example of what "wildlife preservation" can mean. Ingram. (Ages: Preschool).

Horrified by the city people who have come to cut down their beloved forest homeland, Aani and other members of her village try to make them understand how important the trees are, and a single act of bravery helps save the forest. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

After Alejandro plants a lush vegetable garden to help pass the time, he is thrilled by the many small animals that come to drink in its furrows. But when he realizes that there are many larger creatures going thirsty, he generously builds a sheltered waterhole away from his adobe home. Booklist. (Ages 4-8).

Arnosky has selected 12 animals to include in his ark for the new millennium. All are either endangered or were seriously threatened at one time. . . .The artist shows the creature in its natural habitat and provides a few paragraphs that explain why it is included, as well as a brief summary of the struggle that it has endured. School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8). (Parent Comment: "quite good").

A boy and his father learn how to recycle old barns that would otherwise be demolished. Instead of seeing the old barns as waste material, the father finds beauty in the rafters and beams that will be put to use in building new barns and houses that may endure for another century. The father passes on to his son a belief that the barn is a treasure, holding secrets to the past that can never be truly known; therefore, it deserves to be respectfully saved. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages 4-8).

Hiscock tells the story of a sugar maple tree from a winged seed sprouting during the American Revolution to the present day when a picnic is held under its towering branches every Fourth of July. Not only are historical events mentioned--George Washington as president, logging, the Civil War--but also biological systems such as photosynthesis and the running of sap are explained. School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8).

In the 1850's, when the US wanted to buy his people's Pacific Northwest land, Chief Seattle delivered this eloquent message to a Commissioner of Indian Affairs . . . Poetic and compelling, it's a plea to revere and preserve the web of creation: ``Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.'' Kirkus Reviews. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children). (Parent Comment: "very good book about respecting the environment). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our fourth grade classrooms).

Out of love and concern for their planet, the animals and people of Mother Earth work together to protect the natural world. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

Carefully researched text tell the dramatic story of a condor family's struggle for survival in a world where its habitat is being destroyed. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

Sanders (A Place Called Freedom, 1997, etc.) describes, from season to season, the animals that live in and around a creek, as observed by Michael and Elizabeth. They planned to pan for gold, but find instead fossils of worms and shelled animals that lived millions of years ago, an Indian arrowhead, and a wealth of wildlife to study and enjoy, including crawdads, the rosy salamander, catfish, damselfly, whirligig beetles, slider turtles, muskrat, raccoon, and deer. Kirkus Review. (Ages 4-8).

Leslie-Melville and her late husband Jock unintentionally became the primary preservers of the endangered Rothschild giraffe while living in Nairobi, Kenya. . . Daisy Rothschild eloquently points out the difference that just two people can make in the fight to protect endangered animals. Publisher's Weekly. (Ages 5-up).

A hunter spies a dancing deer in the forest by the sea, and figures his fortune is made. But when he gets her home, she won't dance. Not only that, she tells him she cannot dance without the song of the birds. The hunter, given to expressions like "Great gooseberries!" captures a couple of birds, but of course they won't sing in a cage. The birds need the sound of the wind in the pines, so the hunter brings pines. But the pines can't whistle without the sea breeze, which needs the sea. Eventually the hunter, led by the deer, realizes he needs to take everything back to where its interconnectedness is natural. Booklist. (Ages 4-8).

"Dear Children of the Earth" begins a remarkable letter from Mother Earth asking for help from children everywhere. She writes to express her love for each and every child and asks for their love and appreciation in return. In her own words, and with all of her heart, Mother Earth enfolds children with love and entrusts them with her protection. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our Kindergarten classrooms).

Conservation 4.1.05

You may think of the desert as a harsh, dry place where no one would ever want to live -- but think again.

The Desert People know. So do the animals. Both love the land, and "share the feeling of being brothers in the desert, of being desert creatures together." Book Description. (Ages 4-8).

After ruining Earth and soaring off to a star in his rocket, the man returns to find that ancient creatures have beautified the earth and it is where he wants to live after all. Card Catalog Description. (Ages 4-8).

A humorous biography of the twenty-sixth president, emphasizing his love of animals and wildlife and his activities as a conservationist. Card Catalog Description. (Ages 4-8).

Valerio the dragon and Allegra the unicorn watch with sadness as King Orlando and his men invade their sacred forest and cut down 600-year-old trees to build a fortress. It's to Orlando's compassionate young daughter, Princess Arianna, that Allegra and Valerio turn with their warning about the danger that comes from forest destruction. Booklist. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Rodanas . . . retells an ancient Zuni tale, scrupulously noting her source as an 1884 transcription that she has ``simplified...[adding] some details of my own [in] the way of storytellers.'' The result is a blend of cautionary tale and why story: Celebrating an abundant harvest, the Ashiwi stage a mock battle--literally, a food fight- -that angers the Corn Maidens; they refuse their blessings, and famine follows. Most of the people flee, but two forgotten children fashion a lovely winged creature (the first dragonfly) from a withered cornstalk. It flies to the Corn Maidens, who restore their bounty; the other villagers return, both wiser and kinder. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages: 4-10). (Parent Comment: "very good book about respecting the earth").

Bulldozers push the raccoon and his friends from their home, but they are able to find a new one after a terrifying train ride. Book Description. (Ages 4-8).

A story of a boy in Iowa, 1916, in a small town who becomes enchanted by an extinct and endangered Farivox owned by a man passing through town. Book Description. (Ages 4-8).

In a Cherokee creation tale, the first man and woman quarrel, and the woman walks quickly away. Taking pity on the contrite man, the sun causes various berries to grow in order to distract the woman and slow her down, but it is only when the sun creates strawberries that she stops and makes peace with her husband. Horn Book. (Ages 4-8). (Nt: respect nature, mentions creationism). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Stewart's quiet story, relayed in the form of letters written by a little girl, focuses on a child who literally makes joy blossom. . . When hard times hit her family, Lydia Grace is shipped off to stay with her somber, undemonstrative uncle who owns a city bakery. She makes the best of her stay by helping out and by pursuing her favorite pastime, gardening, a talent she uses to make her uncle smile--in a very unusual way. In the end, she receives not simply one reward for her kindness but two. Booklist. (Ages 5-8). (Caldecott Honor Book 1998). (Recommended in Valerie and Walter's Best Books for Children).

Conservation 4.1.05

In this reverent version of a Jataka tale, a magnificent stag known as the Banyan Deer goes willingly to sacrifice in place of a pregnant doe. When the king of Benares hears the deer speak, he releases it, pledging protection to its herd and to ``creatures of all kinds who live in fear of men.'' In turn, the deer agree to stay away from local farmers' fields. Long after, the Banyan Deer was reborn as the Buddha. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages: 6-8). (Not previewed).

The many different animals that live in a great kapok tree in the Brazilian rainforest try to convince a man with an ax of the importance of not cutting down their home. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

This is the story of a dog that is trained to hunt. But the problem is that the dog is also compassionate and kind. Every time he finds a wounded duck, he doesn't bring it to his master, the hunter. Instead, he looks after the injured bird. What will the hunter do when he finds out? Book Description. (Ages 4-8).

Walter, an environmental ignoramus of a 10 year old, is careless or scornful of such elementary actions as recycling or tree planting. One nightmarish evening, however, he visits a future where his daydreams of technological paradise are demolished. Instead, there is merely a horrifically exacerbated continuation of today's eco-problems: landfills, expressways, smog, lifeless oceans, and vanished wilderness. Walter awakens reformed, and is rewarded with another dream: the future redeemed. School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8). (Parent Comment: "excellent").

In this cautionary tale of greed and environmental destruction, the lovable Lorax tries to save the Truffula Forest and its inhabitants from disaster at the hands of the cantankerous Once-ler. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Deciding in childhood that she would seek adventure in faraway places, Miss Rumphius fulfills her dream and then has one more thing to do--something to make the world more beautiful. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Once there was a town in the middle of an island with an ecological chain made up of cows, clover, bees, mice, cats, and the old ladies who liked them. When the mayor trips over a cat one night, he orders that all cats must be locked up, and it's up to the old ladies to set things right. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

Two children playing at the beach tamper with the natural balance of a tide pool and, after destroying its beauty, realize how similar its microcosm is to their own world. Card Catalog Description. (Ages 4-8). (Parent comment" "excellent"). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our first grade classrooms).

Conservation 4.1.05

When his peach tree is threatened by aphids, Farmer Pomeroy brings in a horde of ladybugs to save the tree and restore the balance of nature. Synopsis. (Ages 4-8).

An environmental fable based on a classic folk tale from India. Retelling the 300-year old story of the first "Chipko" - the "Hug-the-Tree" people - the author follows the fortunes of a young girl, Amrita Devi, who grows up to lead her village in saving the nearby forest from the Maharajah's axe-men. Today, the Chipko Movement supports non-violent resistance to tree-cutting. Synopsis. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children). (Parent Comment: "dramatic story").

Prize in the Snow, Bill Easterling
Wanting to trap an animal or a bird, a boy carefully takes his homemade trap into the woods and baits it with a carrot. However, when a starving rabbit hops into the trap to eat the carrot, the boy deals with it in a humanitarian way. Horn Book. (Ages 5-8). (Not previewed).

An affecting plea for the rain forests in South America, which are increasingly being destroyed . . . Machines, "cutting and spoiling," are ravaging the landscape, frightening the animal inhabitants who retreat to higher ground to escape the destruction. When the floods come, there are no trees left to hold the soil in place so the river bursts its banks, washing away the bulldozer, and, presumably, its large-bellied operator. The animals are temporarily safe.

School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8).

When Mark is home sick, Uncle Scott, Mark's fishing buddy, sends him a box for trout flies. A dream sequence begins as Mark opens the box and the flies flutter out the window. A river appears, and a boat, and Mark finds Uncle Scott fishing just around the bend. But Uncle Scott lets his fish go, saying he ``likes to leave the river the way he found it.'' Then it's Mark's turn, and he catches a great rainbow trout, which he also throws back, echoing his uncle's words. School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8).

Stoddart, to clean up the river and restore its wildlife. Contrasts--e.g., between the lush valley the Native Americans found and the dying river, sluggishly running red with dye and pulp from a paper mill--are dramatically telling. An important, intelligently presented story that is emblematic of the need for myriad similar conservation efforts. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages 6-10). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Relates how plants and creatures co-exist in a rockpool and their struggle for survival when a man-made catastrophe strikes. Card Catalog Description. (Ages 4-8).

"Where will he sleep?" asks Brian's mother when he arrives home from the woods with an orange salamander. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Conservation 4.1.05

Bunting writes about a small boy who discovers a secret place--a small patch of wildlife--at night in the river that runs through a cacophonous, polluted urban center . . . He shares this discovery with his father who runs a forklift at night and ``is good with secrets,'' a young married couple, and others who teach him the names of the birds. . . The boy wants to tell even more people about the secret place, but decides to be careful in the name of protecting it. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages 4-8). (Parent Comment: "very sweet").

[This is] a story in which a lesson about medicinal herbs is brought to life through young Kamanya, who dreams of becoming his tribe's next shaman. Kamanya spends his time following the current shaman into the forest and

learning the secrets of the plants. But local plants can't cure the new diseases brought to the area by strangers, and the pills the strangers bring with them cause the indigenous people to lose faith in the ability of their shaman. Eventually a woman named Gabriella, who comes to study the properties of the rain forest plants, restores the tribe's faith. Booklist. (Ages 4-8). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our third grade classrooms).

In gentle, poetic language, the beauty of sand dunes and their role in protecting the beach from erosion is described as two children discover their unique pleasures. When a storm destroys the fragile dunes, the youngsters are saddened. The following winter, however, they take part in a conservation effort to help restore the dunes with recycled Christmas trees. School Library Journal. (Ages 4-8). (Note: mentions Christmas).

Somewhere in Asia, a well-known hunter travels to young Lee's village in search of a rumored tiger. The villagers wish the hunter well, extolling the virtues of tiger meat, hoping to share in the profits from the sale of its skin -- except Lee, who wishes the hunter bad luck in his hunting. Vivid imagery in both art and text reveal the hunter to be a photographer, shooting the tiger's every move with his telephoto lens. The book's powerful message of the beauty and plight of the endangered tiger is tastefully presented. Horn Book. (Ages 4-8).

[This] book that speaks simply and elegantly of the many pleasures a tree provides. Publishersí Weekly. (Ages 4-8). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

According to African legend, each animal was given a tree to plant by the Great Spirit. . . Bash proceeds to unfold the life cycle of this majestic bastion of the African savannah. Frequently measuring 60 feet tall and 40 feet across, these giants "outlive nearly everything on earth"--their life span is over 1000 years. In this compelling and moving account, the baobab stands proud and stately as a vivid panoply of activity unfolds within its sprawling branches. . . . Finally, an old tree dies and "collapses in on itself, a melted heap of ruins." A seed sprouts, a new baobab tree begins to grow and life continues. One of nature's great lessons is recreated dramatically in this stirring book. Publishers Weekly. (Ages 4-8).

Outlined in the tranquil telling of a friendship between a young boy and a seemingly odd man who proves to be ``old and wise, and full of wonderful secrets'' is a beguiling look at the breeding process of Japanese sea turtles, who lay their eggs on land yet live in the ocean. Jiro-San is often seen sweeping the glass and rubbish from the beach and listening to the wind, in preparation for the return of his ``old friends." Kirkus Review. (Ages 4-8).

Conservation 4.1.05

Answering common questions about wetlands and explaining their environmental importance, this charming picture book follows a child on a wetland walk, showing the fascinating plants and animals that can be found there. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

Years after the jungle in her Costa Rica valley is cut down, Don+a1a Marta persuades her husband to give her a

piece of land on which she plants trees that she and descendants care for until they grow into a forest and the monkeys that had once lived there return. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

A mother and baby look through a window at the beautiful wilderness beyond their home. But as the baby grows, buildings and roads are constructed, and by the time the boy is an adult, what was once open landscape is now a crowded city. Ingram. (Ages 4-8).

The Pollutians invade the Wump World and turn the green meadows into a concrete jungle. Ingram. (Ages 4-8). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our second grade classrooms).

Leslie-Melville and her late husband Jock unintentionally became the primary preservers of the endangered Rothschild giraffe while living in Nairobi, Kenya. . . Daisy Rothschild eloquently points out the difference that just two people can make in the fight to protect endangered animals. Publisher's Weekly. (Ages 5-up).

Here are twelve deeply moving short stories from the perceptive pen of Cynthia Rylant. Each captures the moment when someone's life changes -- when an animal causes a human being to see things in a different way, and, perhaps, changes his life. Book Description. (Ages 9-12). (Recommended in Valerie and Walter's Best Books for Children). (Not previewed).

When Pete moves to a new town, he can't seem to make any friends. But one day, he takes a new road home from school, and what he discovers changes him forever. The spectacular images, carefully researched, capture the world from both a human and bird's-eye view, while a detailed glossary of birds and information about raptor rehabilitation underscore the importance of keeping the natural world wild. Ingram. (Ages 9-12). (Nt: this book has been selected to be read in our fifth grade classrooms).

Conservation 4.1.05

credited to activist Marion Stoddart, to clean up the river and restore its wildlife. Contrasts--e.g., between the lush valley the Native Americans found and the dying river, sluggishly running red with dye and pulp from a paper mill--are dramatically telling. An important, intelligently presented story that is emblematic of the need for myriad similar conservation efforts. Kirkus Reviews. (Ages 6-10). (Recommended in Valerie & Walter's Best Books for Children).

Bash has chosen 13 species of birds, from the familiar pigeon to the sleek, skyscraper-nesting peregrine falcon, to show how these creatures have successfully adapted to new city habitats. She mentions the fact that many of the birds' original environments have been destroyed by man, but is not heavy-handed in her message. School Library Journal. (Ages 9-12). (Not previewed).

Sent to live with her rough-mannered cousins in Vermont, nine-year-old Elizabeth Ann accepts the challenge of her new life and begins a triumphant journey of self-discovery. Ingram. (Ages 8-12). (Not previewed). (Nt: respecting nature.)

Conservation 4.1.05