Genre 4 Nonfiction and Biography

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

Our Solar System

Written by Seymour Simon

1. Biography

Simon, Seymour. 2007. Our Solar System. New York: Harper Collins. ISBN: 9780688099923

2. Plot Summary

Our Solar System is a non-fiction book about the sun, the planets, asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.  The book begins with a detailed description of the creation of the sun and its attributes.  Then the author describes each planet in detail with interesting facts about the history of the planets and there discovery.  In addition he includes information about the planets distance around the sun, the planets seasons, and what each planet is made of.  He also talks about asteroids, comets, and meteoroids.  Each page has big beautiful pictures that show the different sides of the planets and our solar system.  This book is very informative and would be a great book to read in order to find out more about the solar system.

3. Critical Analysis

Seymour Simon uses beautiful pictures and clear factual information to take the reader on a journey through our solar system.  Each set of pages contains bright beautiful pictures of planets and outer space on one side and on the other information that pertains to the picture in a large easy to read font.  The pictures in this book come straight from NASA and Simon often gives background information on the pictures by describing the NASA spacecrafts that took the pictures.  There are also many pictures taken by telescopes and astronauts that went into space. 

In Our Solar System, Simon gives detailed information in this order about the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Asteroids, Comets, and Meteoroids.  Simon’s writing consists of factual information about each planet such as its discovery, how it was named, the size of the planet, what it’s made of, the seasons on the planet, and much more.  The last page of the book contains a glossary of scientific terms and an index.  There are also websites listed where the reader can find out more information about our solar system.  The inside cover of the book and the inside back cover of the book contain a large chart from NASA that lists all the planets and information about them such as distance from the sun, revolution in Earth days, and how many satellites they have.  This chart is a useful tool for finding fast facts and for comparing the planets. 

Simon uses the copyright page to credit his sources and often writes where he found the information about the planets throughout the book.  Seymour Simon is the author of more than 200 books for children and is the recipient of the Science Books & Films Key Award for Excellence in Science Books.  He is well known in the world of non-fiction books for writing interesting and exciting scientific books for children.

I would recommend this book to librarians and teachers for its stunning pictures and interesting facts.  I really enjoyed reading about the discoveries of the different planets and the format of this book makes it very easy to read.  However, Our Solar System might be difficult for younger students to read because it is a 63 page book and contains scientific terms, and big words.  The reading level of this book is seventh grade and up.  However, fourth grade students and up would probably enjoy listening to this book read aloud and looking at the pictures and facts in its pages. 

4. Review Excerpts

Awards for Seymour Simon:

Science Books & Film Key Award for Excellence in Science Books

Empire State Award for excellence in literature for young people

Educational Paperback Aossication Jeremiah Ludington Award

School Library Journal- Grade 3-6-- Having worked his way through individual volumes on the Sun and its galactic companions, Simon now offers a brief overview of the solar system itself. The full-color photographs and illustrations are spectacular. Each of the planets gets several pages of coverage, with comets, meteors, and asteroids also receiving attention. This book serves best as an introduction to the single topic books since the information presented here is quite brief. The endpapers have a nicely organized chart of useful statistics such as diameter, rotation period, revolution period, etc., for each planet. Not sufficient in itself for most report needs, this title's eye-catching illustrations and understandable text should encourage young readers to look for further information. --Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, MA
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

5. Connections

Put the students into groups and have each group select a planet to study.  Each group should decorate a poster board with images of their planet and find interesting facts about their planet to share with the class.   The students can use the facts from Our Solar System as well as other non-fiction books.

First Space Encyclopedia By DK Publishing ISBN: 978-0756633660

Me and My Place in Space by Joan Sweeny ISBN: 978-0517885901

Planets, Moons and Stars by Laura Evert ISBN: 978-1559718424

Solar System: A Visual Exploration of All the Planets, Moons and Other Heavenly

Bodies that Orbit Our Sun By Marcus Chown ISBN: 9781579128852

Stars & Planets by Carole Stott ISBN: 9780753412008

Seymour Simon also wrote the Destination series of books that focus on one planet in space.  The following books are some of the books in the series.

Destination: Mars by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060546380

Destination: Jupiter by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780064437592

Destination: Saturn by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780688084042

Tell the students to pretend that they are an astronaut that has a space ship fast enough and powerful enough to visit any planet in the solar system.  While they are in space they must keep a journal to document their adventures.  Have each student write at least four entries about their trip to space in their journal.  The length of the journal entries is up to the teacher or librarian depending on the age of the students.  Younger students can drawl pictures instead.  The book The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System  as wells as The Worlds Around Us: A Space Voyage are a good books to read along with Our Solar System in order to help the students imagine that they are on an adventure in space.

The Magic School Bus Lost in the Solar System by Joanna Cole ISBN: 9780590414296

The Worlds Around Us: A Space Voyage by Ellen Jackson ISBN: 9780761334057

Seymour Simon has written more than 250 books for children.  Read other books by Seymour Simon in order to teach and discuss different topics.  Talk about his writing style and teach the students about the glossary and index that he includes in the back of his books.  Below are a few of his non-fiction books.

Animals Nobody Loves by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9781587171550

The Brain: Our Nervous System by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060877194

Dogs by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780064462556

Guts: Our Digestive System by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060546519

Lightning by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060884352

Oceans by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060889999

Weather by Seymour Simon ISBN: 9780060884390

What to Do About Alice?

Written by Barbara Kerley

Illustrated by Edwin Fotheringham

               

1. Bibliography

Kerley, Barbara. 2008. What To Do About Alice?. Ill. by Edwin Fotheringham. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 9780439922319

2. Plot Summary

What to Do About Alice? Is a biography about Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s life.  The book is brilliantly written in a storybook format with beautiful illustrations of events in Alice’s life.  The biography tells of the difficulties Theodore Roosevelt had in razing an outgoing, curious, adventurous daughter who loves life and is always looking for fun.  The story begins by telling a little bit about Theodore Roosevelt and then leads into difficulties he had in taking care of Alice as a child.  Throughout the book Alice is shown in pictures having fun jumping on couches, traveling with her father, riding bicycles, and sliding down stair cases with her siblings.  When Alice grows up her father’s political career takes off eventually leading him to become the 26^th President of the United States.  Alice becomes a celebrity with all of her unladylike and outrageous adventures.  She eventually becomes and ambassador for the president and one day the wife of a congressman.  This interesting biography will show you another side of Theodore Roosevelt’s life with his fun and outgoing daughter Alice. 

3. Critical Analysis

Barbara Kerley tells the story of Alice Roosevelt Longworth’s Life in this delightful picture book biography.  Each page is filled with creative and beautiful illustrations featuring the outgoing and entertaining childhood of Alice.  The pictures follow the text accurately and help the reader visualize Alice and her sometimes outrageous adventures.  For instance she is shown jumping on couches as a child and sliding down staircases with her siblings in the White House as a teenager. 

Kerley begins the story by giving a little bit of background information on Theodore Roosevelt and then leads into his difficulties raising Alice as a child.  The book follows Alice’s life up until she marries Nicholas Longworth and becomes the wife of a congressman.  Even though the book is written in a storybook format it contains real quotes that Theodore Roosevelt and Alice said.  The events in the story are also accurate and factual accounts of Alice’s life.  On the last pages of the book Kerley includes Author’s Notes that give an account of the loss of Theodore Roosevelt’s wife, also named Alice and an excerpt that shows how proud he was of his daughter when she went to Puerto Rico as an Ambassador.  The author also gives a short summary of the biography of Alice’s life.  In addition she includes a list of her sources for the quotes and facts in the book.

Kerley shows her passion for the biography by giving a fun, exciting, and interesting account of Alice’s life and an explanation of why she chose to write the book.  On the jacket flap of the book the author states that she read an article in a history magazine about the “glamorous, intelligent, almost regal” Alice, her “high jinks” at the capital, and how she “drove her father crazy” and knew that it would make a “great story”.

I really enjoyed reading this biography.  I thought it was interesting and the pictures really added to the facts in the story. The book has an independent reading level of fourth grade due to the length of the biography and the difficulty level of the words.  However I would recommend this book as a read aloud to students of all ages.

4. Review Excerpts

v     Boston Globe- Horn Book Honor Book

v     Irma Black Award Honor Book

v     Robert F. Sibert Informational Award Honor Book

v     Parents Choice Award

v     Washington State Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award

v     California Collections

v     A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year

v     A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year

v     A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year

v     ALA Notable Book

v     Capitol Choices

v     New York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing

v     Nominated for Young Reader awards in Texas, Illinois, Utah and Tennessee

Booklist, Starred Review-"Irrepressible Alice Roosevelt gets a treatment every bit as attractive and exuberant as she was....  Kerley's text has the same rambunctious spirit as its subject, grabbing readers from the first line....  The large format gives Fotheringham, in his debut, plenty of room for spectacular art."                                                                     

School Library Journal, Starred Review- "Kerley's text gallops along with a vitality to match her subject's antics, as the girl greets White House visitors accompanied by her pet snake, refuses to let leg braces cramp  her style, dives fully clothed into a ship's swimming pool, and also earns her place in history as one of her father's trusted advisers.... Fascinating…

Publishers Weekly, Starred Review-"It's hard to imagine a picture book biography that could better suit its subject than this high-energy volume serves young Alice Roosevelt."                                   

Kirkus, Starred Review- “Theodore Roosevelt’s irrepressible oldest child receives an appropriately vivacious appreciation in this superb picture book.... Kerley’s precise text presents readers with a devilishly smart, strong-willed girl who was determined to live life on her own terms and largely succeeded.”                           

Horn Book, Starred Review- "What to do about Alice?  Enjoy!" 

5. Connections

Discuss with the students what Alice meant by the term “ate up the world.”  Ask the students what they would do if they were Alice and could travel anywhere and do anything they wanted to do.  Have each student write a paragraph about something Alice did in the book and something they would like to do if they were allowed to do anything. 

Research and learn more about Alice’s father Theodore Roosevelt.  Put the students into groups and have them look up some of Theodore Roosevelt’s accomplishments that are listed in the book.  One example might be Roosevelt’s adventures as a Rough Rider.  Then have each student make a poster of 10 of the most interesting facts they found out about Theodore Roosevelt.  The following books are books about Theodore Roosevelt.

The Boyhood Diary of Theodore Roosevelt, 1869-1870: Early Travels of the 26th U.S. President by Theodore Roosevelt ISBN: 9780736806015

The Great Adventure: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rise of Modern America by Albert Marrin ISBN: 9780525476597

Theodore Roosevelt for Kids: His Life and Times, 21 Activities by Kerrie Logan Hollihan ISBN: 9781556529559

Bully for You, Teddy Roosevelt! By Jean Fritz ISBN: 9780698116092

Teddy Roosevelt: The People's President by Sharon Gayle ISBN: 9780689858253

Letters to His Children by Theodore Roosevelt by Theodore Roosevelt ISBN: 9781463701857

Read the book Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt! By Leslie Kimmelman.  Compare and contrast this book to What To Do About Alice?  Make a chart listing the similarities of the two books on one side and the differences on the other.

Mind Your Manners, Alice Roosevelt! By Leslie Kimmelman ISBN: 9781561454921

Do an author study on Barbara Kerley.  Read other biographies and books she has written and discuss the similarities in the format or way that they are written.  Research more about the author and share a little bit about her with the students.

Other books by Barbara Kerley:

The Dinosaurs of Waterhouse Hawkins: An Illuminating History of Mr. Waterhouse Hawkins, Artist and Lecturer by Barbara Kerley ISBN: 9780439114943

The Extraordinary Mark Twain: According To Susy by Barbara Kerley ISBN: 9780545125086

Greetings From Planet Earth by Barbara Kerley ISBN: 9780439802048

Those Rebels, John and Tom by Barbara Kerley ISBN: 9780545222686

Walt Whitman: Words for America by Barbara Kerley ISBN: 9780439357913

Barbara Kerley’s website:

http://www.barbarakerley.com/Site/Welcome.html