By: Constance Van Hoven / Illustrated by: Alan Marks

Let’s go on a different kind of treasure hunt.

Travel around the globe to discover eight species that are blue in color and naturally rare, threatened, or endangered. Panoramic illustrations and a playful main text prompt a search for the blue species at hand, while the page-turn and informative sidebars zoom in to reveal a closer look at each species.

There’s a lot to learn about the Karner blue butterfly, the blue black bear, the blue whale, the Quitobaquito pupfish, the cerulean warbler, the blue lobster, the eastern indigo snake, and big bluestem grass. A surprise ending celebrates our Earth: the rarest and bluest of them all!

If you like this book, youll enjoy these:
Red Alert! Endangered Animals Around the World
Will We Miss Them? Endangered Species
Can We Save Them?

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Look Inside

Author & Illustrator

Constance Van Hoven, author

Constance Van Hoven received her MFA in writing for children and young adults from Vermont College. She is the author of The Twelve Days of Christmas in Minnesota and Hello! Minnesota. She lives in Bozeman, Montana.

Read more about Constance.

Alan Marks, illustrator

Alan Marks is the illustrator of many books for children, including Daring Dozen, Boston Globe Horn Book honor book A Mother’s Journey, and Carnegie Medal winner Storm. He lives in Kent, England

Read more about Alan.

Awards & Honors

• Coming soon!

Editorial Reviews

Booklist

Describing all the endangered flora and fauna of the U.S. is a Herculean task, and this book illustrates our countrys multitude of rare plants and creatures by narrowing in only on blue ones. The opening pages, for example, show children on the hunt for a patch of lupine, where they find Karner blue butterflies, which have been largely squeezed out of their habitats by human development. Next, its off to an oasis pond where, readers are told, Quitobaquito pupfish live theyre now found in just one pond in the U.S., though they were once much more common. Covered in a similar way (i.e., habitat description followed by endangerment details) are the cerulean warbler, eastern indigo snake, bluestem prairie grass, blue bear, and blue whale, with extra facts about each, a general glossary, and an explanation of words related to endangerment closing the work. The short but pithy details about each species will be enough to pique childrens interest to learn more, and the dreamy watercolor images of beaches, ponds, and animalsthe blue whale illustrations are especially strikingmake this a gorgeous read.

School Library Journal

The color blue can be found all throughout nature, including birds, lobsters, prairie grass, and the Earth itself. This picture book examines familiar creatures and their many shades of blue. The narrative takes readers on a journey, starting with a field of Karner blue butterflies and ending in space with an aerial view of Earth. Each spread uses simple prose and spotlights a new animal or aspect of nature. A paragraph of text provides facts, such as an animals scientific name, details about its habitat, or its classification as an endangered species in the wild. The artwork complements the text well, adding detail to the animals, wildlife, and outdoor settings as if readers were looking at realistic scenes recreated from photographs. The humans that are depicted throughout are mostly seen from a distance but are both white and non-white. The back matter includes categories of species, a glossary, additional facts, and a selected bibliography. VERDICT Filled with dreamy watercolor images of nature and bite-sized information to encourage thoughtful reflection, this title is a solid purchase for elementary nonfiction collections, especially where nature and life science texts are popular.

Downloadables

Download the CoverDownload the Learning GuideDownload the Activity Kit

Details

Hardcover
ISBN: 978-1-62354-097-5

E-book
ISBN: 978-1-63289-849-4 EPUB

Ages: 59
Page count: 48
10 x 10

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