Search Results for: migration

Animal Migrations

Aug29
Animal Migrations

Animal Migrations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Animal Migrations – Flying, Walking, Swimming

Diane Jackson Hill

CSIRO Publishing, 2022

80pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781486315413 

Every year hundreds of thousands of animals trek across kilometres of land, traverse entire oceans or fly from one end of the planet to the other, and then back again. 

While drawings from the Stone Age period show hoofed animals travelling across the African savannah and  the Ancient Greeks were aware that the local birdlife disappeared and reappeared at certain times, today’s scientists are still asking questions and learning the answers as these annual journeys take place centuries on.  But why do they do this?  Where do they go? How do they find their way? How do they last the distance? How do they survive extreme weather and hungry predators? How do they navigate a landscape that includes rivers, mountains, oceans, cities and towns? 

These are the sorts of questions that our budding naturalists ask and which are answered in this new publication in an accessible layout that has lots of photos and other illustrations as well as text that is written to meet the needs of the intended audience without being too babyish or scientific. It explores the migrations of mammals, birds, insects, fish, reptiles, amphibians, crustaceans and aquatic microorganisms, as well as their effect on our world, and how we can help these migrating animals.

With all the supports expected of a quality non fiction text, including a glossary, index and suggestions for further investigations this will be a valuable addition to any school library.

Atlas Of Amazing Migrations

Feb4
Atlas Of Amazing Migrations

Atlas Of Amazing Migrations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atlas Of Amazing Migrations

Megan Lee

Matt Sewell

Pavilion, 2021

160pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9781843654995

When Australians think of animal migrations, our thoughts tend to turn to the annual whale trails up and down are coasts as whales, particularly humpbacks, make their journeys from the cold, wintery waters of Antarctica to the warmth of the South Pacific to breed and give birth and then return to their rich feeding grounds of the south. To see these magnificent creatures “in the flesh” is a lifelong memory and on the bucket list of many. 

But there are so many other creatures on this planet that also undertake amazing journeys in search of food or warmth or a mate (or all of the above) and this book, richly illustrated in watercolours by Matt Sewell, traces many of them whether they involve journeys of thousands of kilometres like the humpback, or just crossing the road, which can be treacherous if you’re a snake, or takes generations as is the case of the monarch butterfly. And even though those trips and treks can seem long and arduous, migration is in the genetic makeup and the creature is compelled to follow its instincts following magnetic fields, temperature and light as their navigation tools. Throughout the book there are maps of some of the routes taken showing the enormous distances travelled, leaving the reader in awe of the undertakings. 

More for the independent reader with an interest in natural history, nevertheless the information is accessible, straight-forward and interesting, offering the opportunity to explore particular creatures of interest further.  It is a great follow up for those wanting to know more after reading  Tiny Possum and the Migrating Moths   which explores the relationship between the rare mountain pygmy possum and its food source, the bogong moth and the impact that urbanisation has had on the moths’ migration. 

It could also be a follow up tangent to any stories or units about the travels and journeys that the students have made, particularly as places start to open up again.  Add a new dimension by having students think about their purpose for travel, the preparations they made, the navigation tools they used and so forth. Could take the ‘what I did/where I went in the holidays’ staple to a whole new level.  What if they were the humpback whale or the corn leaf aphid?

So while we can and do celebrate the return of the humpbacks to our waters each year, this book teaches us that there are many who make journeys and who may also be in peril of more than a speeding car. 

 

 

 

Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys

Jul5
Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys

Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Migration: Incredible Animal Journeys

Mike Unwin

Jenni Desmond

Bloomsbury, 2018

48pp., hbk., RRP $A22.99

9781408889916

“Animals of all shapes and sizes make epic journeys across our planet, through harsh weather, avoiding hungry predators, in their efforts to survive. Travel around the globe with some of the world’s most incredible animals and discover their unique migration stories. “

The stories of twenty creatures -Arctic tern, barn swallow, bar-headed goose, ruby-throated hummingbird, osprey, wandering albatross, whooping crane, emperor penguin, African elephant, blue wildebeest, caribou, straw-coloured fruit bat, humpback whale, green turtle, Southern pilchard, salmon, great white shark, monarch butterfly, globe skimmer dragonfly, Christmas Island red crab – are told in this large format book, each set on a double-page spread that has the creature and its habitat as its background.

While full of information and interest, this is one that will appeal to readers who prefer non fiction because the journey of each creature is told in a narrative format rather than one sorted under headings and topic sentences and so forth.  Some creatures, such as the humpback whale, will be familiar to young Australian readers but others will open new pathways to explore, perhaps even encourage the budding naturalist to start observing their own surrounds and investigate whether the wildlife changes as the months and seasons pass and why.

Fascinating.

Giovanni

Jan1
Giovanni

Giovanni

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Giovanni

Crystal Corocher

Margeaux Davis

Wombat Books, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781761111235

In 1881, four-year-old Giovanni and his family and local villagers leave the Veneto region of Italy bound for Australia having been promised “paradise” only to find that they are in the hands of a people smuggler with a rickety boat, little food and no real concern for their safety, let alone comfort.  Eventually stranded on a beach in Noumea, they were in despair of ever reaching Australia dying in huge numbers from bad food, mosquitoes, undrinkable water and back-breaking work in the monsoon season. 

But hearing of their plight, Sir Henry Parkes, the “father of Federation” but then colonial secretary of NSW sent a boat to rescue them and 22 families eventually settled on the NSW north coast in what was to become known as New Italy and the start of the Italian migration to Australia that continues today.

Told by the great-granddaughter of Giovanni, with a concurrent Italian translation by Jada Valpato,  this is a story meticulously researched that tells of an almost-forgotten part of Australia’s migration history, making it one for both younger and older readers, particularly those of Italian heritage.  Coupled with links to resources such as the New Italy Museum, this is definitely one for the collection for both your Italian families as well as any study of Australia’s immigration history. 

 

The Bird Book

Jun19
The Bird Book

The Bird Book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Bird Book

Steve Jenkins

Robin Page

Clarion Books, 2023

48pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

9780358325697

From the time a small feathered animal launched itself into the air 150 million years ago, the planet’s skies have been populated with birds and now  more than 10 000 species have evolved from that first archaeopteryx, being the only creatures of the dinosaur era to survive the impact of the asteroid that hit the earth 66 million years ago.

Using minimum text and many many illustrations of examples, the reader is taken on an exploration of the species that explains what a bird is, how the species evolved, and the features that have made them so successful including the power of flight, their senses, their adaptations to  their habitats, migration and all the other facets of life that one would expect to discover. The only drawback that it may have for the younger reader is the small, hand0writing like font that may prove tricky for them to read without help. Overall, though, this is an intriguing and informative book that really provides an ‘all-you-need-to-know’ introduction to a creature that varies from the bee hummingbird that weighs less than a ping pong ball tp the wandering albatross with its wingspan of over three metres to the ostrich which is the largest living bird on the planet these days, outstripped by the extinct giant moa, endemic to New Zealand.

Steve Jenkins has given young readers some fascinating insights into the animal world such as The Animal Toolkit and Animal Facts by the Numbers, and this is just as fascinating.

Yoshi and the Ocean

Dec11
Yoshi and the Ocean

Yoshi and the Ocean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yoshi and the Ocean

Lindsay Moore

HarperCollins, 2022

64pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780063060982

 

In 1997, a young loggerhead sea turtle was rescued from the ocean after an injury to her shell. The fishermen who rescued her named her Yoshi and took her to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa. She was rehabilitated there and grew stronger—and larger!—every day. She also became one of the most popular exhibits at the aquarium.

But Yoshi was changing – she was becoming restless and the call of the ocean and her faraway home became stronger and stronger. After twenty years in captivity, Yoshi was released back into the ocean, fitted with a tracking device. And so began a journey that was full of danger, beauty, adventure, mystery, discovery and surprise. Over 987 days and 24 862 miles (almost 40 000 km) , she navigated the Atlantic and Indian Oceans  back to the Shark Bay region of Western Australia! 

In 2019, Lindsay Moore told us of the journey of Sea Bear, the remarkable journey of a female polar bear, and now, amongst the gloom and doom messages of climate change and environmental disasters, comes another heart-warming, hope-giving story of the magic and mystery of Mother Nature.  Yoshi’s story is told in both lyrical text and exquisite watercolour paintings, with the lightest touches  on topics such as conservation, oceanography, natural selection, the food chain, currents, and geography. But it becomes more than just the story of a remarkable journey with maps, information and even how the satellites tracked her included in the final pages.  On October 28, 2020 Yoshi sent her last transmission and her amazing journey is summarised on this blog post , complete with photographs and links to other posts that not only tell Yoshi’s story in greater detail, but also those of others released from the sanctuary.

Yoshi was “a fantastic ocean ambassador” while at the aquarium and her journey captivated so many more than just those able to see her “in person”, and although her whereabouts are not known now, her carers and scientists believe she is at last at home. Another amazing story of animal migration…

If you have young, or not-so-young, readers with any sort of interest in turtles, or just the ocean and its incredible creatures, this is a must-have in any collection.  Inspire them to learn more, do more, and start their own life-changing journey!

Amazing Animal Journeys

Oct28
Amazing Animal Journeys

Amazing Animal Journeys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing Animal Journeys

Jennifer Cossins

Lothian, 2022

58pp., hbk., RRP $A26.99

9780734421432 

Each year we watch in wonder as whales transverse the humpback highways , but who knew that the humble monarch butterfly (the North American species) is on a journey that takes four or five generations to complete?

The monarch’s is just one of the amazing journeys shared in this new book that  focuses on 25 animal species from Australia and around the world including that of the Arctic tern which has the longest migration of all birds, flying from the Arctic to Antarctica and back each year, and that of the wildebeest in east Africa which is so vast it can be seen from outer space?

Once again, Jennifer Cossins has given young readers a fascinating insight into the natural world, an insight which includes  The Ultimate Animal Alphabet Book ,  The Ultimate Animal Counting Book , A-Z of Endangered Animals and Book of Curious Birds . The endpapers offer a map of some of the journeys that are covered, demonstrating that the natural world is constantly on the move, and each double page spread introduces the migratory journey of a creature from tiny to enormous, some familiar but many not so.  It includes the New Zealand longfin eels that travels upstream navigating waterfalls and dams with its unique climbing abilities, as well as the bogong moth which uses the Earth’s magnetic fields and the light of the moon and stars to navigate deep into the Snowy Mountains of NSW, although, as the author outlines, that journey is becoming more difficult with a wider impact on other wildlife. 

The more we know about the creatures with whom we share this planet, the more we are likely to be aware of their needs and necessities and thus, hopefully, begin to tread with a lighter step.  Through her works that are so interesting and readable for young readers, Jennifer Cossins is making a significant contribution to that awareness.  

A Shorebird Flying Adventure

Jun23
A Shorebird Flying Adventure

A Shorebird Flying Adventure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Shorebird Flying Adventure

Jackie Kerin

Milly Formby

CSIRO Publishing, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A32.99

978148631449

 

A few weeks ago we found ourselves at an international airport, which might not seem unusual except we we had no luggage, tickets or boarding passes, we weren’t intending to fly anywhere and our feet were firmly planted in the sand of Shoalhaven Heads in the Illawarra District of Australia’s East Coast.

 

But this was not your usual airport where planes take off for faraway destinations – it’s actually an important bird migration destination on the East-Asian Australasian Flyway  that extends from Arctic Russia and North America to New Zealand and is used by over 50 million migratory waterbirds.  Twice a year, 36 species of migratory shorebird fly annually to Australia and New Zealand for their non-breeding, or overwintering, season, and then return to breed in the northern hemisphere above the Arctic Circle.

So the release of this book for review was very timely, particularly as it also coincides with an opportunity to follow illustrator Milly Formby’s microlight adventure around Australia to raise awareness for migratory shorebirds in May–November 2022, complete with all sorts of support resources including the teachers’ notes downloadable from the book’s home page..

While we might be learning about the amazing migratory journeys of species like the humpback whale  and other creatures, they are able to stop, rest and feed on their journey.  How can a red-necked stint which weighs about the same as a piece of toast fly 500km without stopping – that’s the distance from Sydney to Perth and then another 1000km out to sea?  Who are these amazing birds, who can’t land on the water because they don’t have webbed feet, and what do they do to prepare for their amazing journeys? How do they find their way across both ocean and continent covering up to 12 000km in nine days like E7, the bar-trailed godwit which was fitted with a tracker to record the first world bird record for the longest non-stop flight?

In this absorbing book, the reader is taken on a trip to the Arctic tundra and back to discover the life and lifestyles of these wanderers in a format that is engaging, accessible and which opens up a whole new world to wonder about.  With books like this and The Great Southern Reef  we can introduce our students to the amazing world that is right on their doorstep, perhaps opening up new interests and dreams. For Milly Formby has a dream to fly her microlight to Siberia and back to follow the birds, the first step being that  Wing Threads adventure of flying around Australia. A real-life example of “Dreaming with Eyes Open.” 

Milly's Journey

Milly’s Journey

 

 

Then to enrich the experience, as well as being involved in  Milly’s adventure, track down a copy of the movie Fly Away Home, the remarkable story of saving Canada geese by training them to follow an ultralight, based on the real-life experience of Bill Lishman.

What a world has opened up for me because I found myself at that unknown airport!  And my feet haven’t even left the ground!

 

 

The Voyage of Whale and Calf

Apr1
The Voyage of Whale and Calf

The Voyage of Whale and Calf

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Voyage of Whale and Calf

Vanessa Pirotta

Samantha Metcalfe

CSIRO Publishing, 2022

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9781486315109

In the warm waters of the Great Barrier Reef,  Whale prepares to give birth to her first baby.  In the 12 months since she first got pregnant, she’s swum thousands of kilometres from the freezing waters of Antarctica – a return journey she will make when Calf is big enough.  The baby is born tail first, weighing as much as a small car, tiny compared to its mum who is as big as a bus but ginormous compared to a human baby.

This is just the start of a remarkable annual migration as as the Antarctic winter starts to lose its grip, both mother and baby head south to the rich feeding grounds of the Southern Ocean.

Written by a wildlife scientist with particular expertise in collecting whale snot, this is an intriguing tale of where and why these magnificent creatures are going as they enchant us with their majestic antics of breaching and tail-slapping as they move up and down the Humpback Highways of both our east and west coasts.

Humpback Highways

Humpback Highways

Brought back from the brink of extinction after relentless unchecked whaling, this is an intriguing introduction to these creatures that will inspire young readers to want to know more  so that they become more than just seasonal tourist attractions. Both the information pages and the extensive teaching notes offer the opportunity to investigate further, both the life and life cycle of the humpback but also the other marine creatures it shares those icy waters with.  Because it is the annual migration of the whales that particularly puts them in our spotlight, there is also scope to investigate where, why and how other creatures migrate. particularly such great distances or even to find out why a person would devote their professional life to investigating whale snot!

As usual, CSIRO Publishing have given us another superb read, one that asks more questions than it answers, and to the curious mind of the child, that is a perfect book!

 

It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People & Planet

Mar13
It’s Up to Us

It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People & Planet

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s Up to Us: A Children’s Terra Carta for Nature, People & Planet

Christopher Lloyd

HRH The Prince of Wales

What On Earth Books, 2022

64pp., hbk., RRP $A39.99

9781913750558

On January 11.2021, The Prince of Wales’s Sustainable Markets Initiative  announced the ‘Terra Carta’ – a charter that puts sustainability at the heart of the private sector. Terra Carta (Earth Charter) will provide a roadmap to 2030 for businesses to move towards an ambitious and sustainable future; one that will harness the power of Nature combined with the transformative power, innovation and resources of the private sector.

This book, illustrated by 33 different artists from around the world, offers ” a beautiful, lyrical and thought-provoking voyage through Nature, the threats we face and an action plan for the future” based on that Terra Carta.  Developed in partnership with The Prince’s Foundation, a charity established by HRH The Prince of Wales to demonstrate how Nature can be put at the heart of human activities it is written in easily-accessible text which explains the importance of  each element- Nature, People and Planet – and why it is critical that they are in harmony.  It shows how the actions of humans have led to change in the environment, how natural habitats have become polluted and the evolution of climate change. It explains the role of carbon dioxide in that change, using language that anyone can understand, the consequences of the planer heating, and what everyone on the planer must agree to do if we are to keep the planet healthy and habitable. That it is up to us, as individuals and collectively, to act now.

If your students have been following the book trail that I have threaded through this year’s reviews that tracks the development of both planet and humans…

Our Country: Ancient Wonders

BANG! The Story of How Life on Earth Began

Australian Backyard Naturalist 

Earth is Big

We are One: How the World Adds Up

Australian Backyard Explorer

The History of Everywhere

The Amazing Meals of Martha Maloney

A Hundred Thousand Welcomes

Atlas of Amazing Migrations

Ouch! Tales of Gravity

The Same But Different

On the Origin of Species 

then this book is a natural addition because it not only has that planet in crisis but offers it a future through the children who now understand where we have come from to get where we are.  It includes the Terra Carta itself, including QR codes to scan to find out more, and while that, in itself, seems to be a commitment to be undertaken by the corporate world, nevertheless, it offers a roadmap for the children so they can consider the ways they can make a difference.  Combined with other books written especially for them about climate change, the environment and sustainability, they can, as a class, develop their own Terra Carta for the school and/or their families to follow.  There is nothing so overwhelming as a global issue, but also nothing so empowering as knowing that as an individual, you can make a difference.