Quest For The Tree Kangaroo:

An Expedition To The Cloud Forest Of New Guinea

Written by Sy Montgomery

Pictures by Nic Bishop

1. Bibliography

Montgomery, Sy. 2006. Quest For The Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition To The Cloud Forest Of New Guinea. Photos by Nic Bishop. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 9780618496419

2. Plot Summary

This book tells the exciting story of Lisa Babek and her team’s quest to find a tree kangaroo in the forests of New Guinea. Sy Montgomery, the author, and Nic Bishop, the photographer, join up with Lisa and her crew to hike through miles and miles of thick forest to make it to one of the only cloud forest left in the world.  Once there they set up camp, learn about survival and tree kangaroo’s, a little bit about the people of Yewen, New Guinea, and how to track and capture tree kangaroos.  Once they capture a tree kangaroo the scientist run tests to learn about these very elusive animals, fit them with a tracking device, and let them go.   It sounds simple enough, but tree kangaroo’s are one of the most difficult animals in the world to find because they have learned to be almost invisible in their natural environment and can move from tree to tree very fast.  Join Lisa and Sy Montgomery on this amazing journey to find these adorable creatures and learn more about cloud forests and the other animals and plants that live there.

3.Critical Analysis

Sy Montgomery follows Lisa Babek and her team into the cloud forest of New Guinea in search of tree Kangaroos called Matschies (MATCH-eez).  Sy Montgomery is an “author, naturalist, documentary scriptwriter, and radio commentator who writes award-winning books for children as well as adults.”  Lisa is a forty-five year old conservation director at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. She, like her team, has a passion for learning about and protecting animals and their environments.  Even though Sy Montgomery is telling the story, the focus of the story is on Lisa and the other people of her scientific team.  Montgomery fills the pages of this book with rich descriptions and facts about New Guinea and its wildlife and the culture of the native people that have helped them on their journey.  In addition she includes background information on each of the team members, which shows the reader how they became a part of the team and that they are knowledgeable and have lots of experience with tree kangaroos and animals. 

Montgomery clearly describes the trip to the forest and the experiences of the team in an exciting first hand account of the quest.  While telling the story she includes dialogue from the other team members that really makes the reader feel as if they are right there with the team in the cloud forest.  The book is easy to read and organized into sections based on different legs of the trip.  Some of the sections are titled; The Adventure Begins, Partners In Conservation, The Hike to Heaven, Welcome to The Cloud Forest, and Capture.  In between each section Montgomery includes factual inserts about different animals in the cloud forest.  Each page also includes beautiful pictures taken by Nic Bishop.  The pictures are big and easy to see and have been carefully chosen to go along with the writing on each of the pages.  There are also descriptions included next to the pictures explaining what they are.  I did not care for the small font of the picture descriptions or the orange color because it made them hard to read.  However the font used in the story was clear and easy on the eyes.   

Montgomery does not include a bibliography, but does thank the many people, organizations, and zoos that helped her write this book.  Based on reading Montgomery’s writing it seems like she researches all the facts before putting them on paper.  The book also has an index, a list of words in Tok Pisin, the native language of the people in Yewen, New Guinea, and a list of websites that give you more information on tree kangaroos.  This book is rather long and might be difficult for young readers to read because of the big words that are used and scientific dialogue.  The book has a sixth grade reading level, but might be enjoyed by students in fourth grade and up.  This book is exciting and engaging and I highly recommend it. 

4. Review Excerpts

v     Winner of the 2007 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award

v     A 2006 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book.

v     Winner of the 2006 Henry Bergh Children's Book Award for a Non-Fiction Book the   Environment and Ecology Category

v     John Burroughs Young Reader Award

v     A Green Earth Honor Book from the Newton Marasco Foundation

v     2007 Julia Ward Howe Finalist Award from the Boston Authors Club

v     Booklist Editor's Choice Book 2006

v     School Library Journal Best Book of the Year 2006

v     Selected by the National Science Teachers Association Council on Children's Books as an Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12

v     NSTA/CBC Selector's Choice

v     On the Washington Post list of top ten books of the year for children

v     A Junior Library Guild Selection

School Library Journal (Starred Review)- Grade 4-9–Montgomery and Bishop continue their outstanding collaboration to introduce readers to scientists at work. Here, they document their participation in an expedition to the rugged and remote cloud forest of Papua New Guinea in search of the elusive and fascinating Matschie's tree kangaroo. Biologist Lisa Dabek heads a team of scientists from around the world who work with local guides to locate the creatures and fit them with radio collars to learn more about them. Bishop's photographs capture the expedition in detail. Stunning close-ups of plants, insects, and birds vie for attention with panoramas of moss-draped trees in the eerie, ancient forest. Montgomery describes both the hardships and exhilaration of the enterprise. She also introduces readers to some of the local people dedicated to conservation efforts. Dabek's pursuit of her interest in animals despite problems with asthma and her suggestions about exploring the natural world should encourage young scientists. The book's fascinating glimpses into a little-explored region will hold the attention of anyone interested in unusual creatures and the efforts to study them.–Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Booklist(Starred Review)- Montgomery and Bishop follow award-wining titles such as The Tarantula Scientist (2004) with another beautifully illustrated entry in the Scientists in the Field series. This time, they join researchers on a grueling expedition in Papua New Guinea to track the rare Matschie's tree kangaroo. Montgomery gives a chronological, sometimes moment-by-moment account of the challenging climb into the remote cloud forest, the conditions in camp (rice-and-fern dinners, icy waterfall showers), and the awe-inspiring encounters with barely studied animals. The text occasionally veers into a casual tone ("a leech dropped into Lisa's eye. Yuck!") that seems aimed at a young audience, while the small font, exacting detail, and meandering narrative may demand older readers. Still, Montgomery gives an unusually strong, visceral sense of the work and cooperation fieldwork entails and the scope and uniqueness of this particular mission. She also communicates the thrill of studying animals in the wild, making observations, and discovering new information. As usual, Bishop's color photographs are exemplary and extend the excitement in stunning close-ups of creatures and of the team at work. Web resources, notes about conservation, and a glossary of Tok Pisin (the language spoken by the team's Papuan members) are appended. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Horn Book-Montgomery's friendliness and curiosity set the tone...Bishop's photography is, as always, outstanding...Dabek's advice to young naturalists...[is a] useful addition.

5. Connections

Create a KWL chart while reading this book.  In the K column write what the students know about tree kangaroo’s before reading the book.  Fill this column out based on the pictures and the student’s knowledge of the kangaroos.  In the W column write what you want to find out about tree kangaroo’s.  Write down the students questions.  Then read the book to the students.  It is a little long so it might take more than one sitting and a review of the part of the book read the previous day.  Finally in the L column write what you learned about tree kangaroo’s.  Put the facts that the students can remember from the book.  This might be a good opportunity to go back and show the students how to use the index to find out information and facts about tree kangaroos.

Read other books by Sy Montgomery.  Discuss similarities and differences between the way she writes the books and the format she uses. 

The Tarantula Scientist by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9780618915774

Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9780618494170

The Snake Scientist by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9780618111190

Saving the Ghost of the Mountain: An Expedition Among Snow Leopards in Mongolia by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9780618916450

Search for the Golden Moon Bear: Science and Adventure in Pursuit of a New Species by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9781603580632

Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest by Sy Montgomery ISBN: 9781603580601

Learn more about the tree kangaroos found in the book Quest for the Tree Kangaroo by researching them online.  Then put the students into groups to make a colorful poster with interesting facts that they learned in the book or from the websites about the animals.

Websites with more information on tree kangaroos.

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/matschies-tree-kangaroo/

http://www.worldwildlife.org/species/finder/tree-kangaroos/tree-kangaroos.html

http://www.conservation.org/fmg/pages/galleryplayer.aspx?galleryid=X52

http://www.endangered-animals.com.au/tree_kangaroo.htm

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Matschie's_Tree-kangaroo