Nicholas ReadBesprekingen

A Whale's World by Ian McAllister is a wonderful nature book with gorgeous photographs taken by the author. This is another book in the series "My Great Bear Rainforest". This book is about a pod of orca's swimming along looking for food. As they travel south, we are introduced to plants and animals they see along the way. We find out how this ecosystem supports various life. There are pictures of bears, seals, sea lions, shellfish, and of course orcas along with the beautiful landscape of the British Columbian Rain Forest. There are several books in this series and they could all be read together. You would see the same eco-system from the perspective of the various animals. This series is also great, interesting non-fiction for younger readers. Great learning book and a great visual delight. I would recommend this book for public, school and classroom libraries. The publishers provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

The Seal Garden by Ian McAllister is a wonderful non-fiction, nature book with gorgeous photographs taken by the author. This is the third book in the "My Great Bear Rainforest" series. The book tells us about a storm and how the animals in the rainforest take shelter. It then introduces the reader to the Seal Garden. It is a special area of underwater vegetation in the Great Bear Sea off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, where seals and other animals can go to be safe from storms and predators. It tells how the seal garden protects marine animals from the storm as well as from predators. When a pod of orcas appear, the seals take protection in the kelp until the orcas give up and leave. We learn about other animals that also live in the Seal Garden. The pictures of the garden are beautiful and the seals look so playful. The book would be a great introduction to underwater life, ecosystems as well as for anyone who likes animals and wants to learn more about the ones in the Pacific Northwest. Great for primary students and classes. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

A Bear's Life by Ian McAllister is a wonderful nature book with gorgeous photographs taken by the author. There are pictures of bears, other animals, and the beautiful landscape of the British Columbian Rain Forest. The text in the book describes the life of the bears, what they eat, how they forage, raise their young and hibernate. The information is short and not too detailed for young readers. I liked reading about the Spirit Bear as that is not something I really knew about before. This is a good book to give basic information and to peak the interest of the reader to investigate further. It is also a good non-fiction book for young readers. A great book for kids of all ages. Great learning book and a great visual delight. I would recommend this book for public, school and classroom libraries. The publishers provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.

Beautiful color photographs of the forest, sea and its animal inhabitants.

The Great Bear Sea encompasses the waters along the north coast of British Columbia, Canada, and includes Hecate Strait, Queen Charlotte Sound, and Dixon Entrance. Nicholas Read and Ian McAllister focus on the animals seen in this region of the Pacific in a children’s nonfiction book notable for its stunningly beautiful photographs. Read and McAllister help young readers see the dense temperate rainforest from a diving and spy-hopping orca’s perspective. The orca is on the lookout for seals or sea lions that her pod can share, but her periscoping thrust upwards also affords her a view of a grizzly on the shore who feeds on seafood: crabs, mussels, and barnacles. The orca’s world includes other shore and marine animals: wolves who dig in the sand for clams, massive fin whales, each the size of a bus, who consume krill and plankton, and hundreds of varieties of fish. The writers also mention many species of birds. At times, the text begins to read like a list, but then Read zooms in to provide a couple of interesting facts about a less-known creature, such as the gigantic Pacific octopus (which is known to be very intelligent and actually uses tools) and the twenty-four-legged sunflower sea star, large as an umbrella. The orca’s quest for food is not a success, so even though this is a world in which “one fish always eats another”, the book does not venture into “nature red in tooth and claw” territory. The orca passes by; the hiding harbour seal can, in the end, come out to enjoy the day.

This lovely work, part of the My Great Bear Rainforest series, is sure to please kids aged 7 to 10 who love to read about the natural world.

Thanks to Orca Book Publishers and Netgalley for providing me with a review copy.

I love bears, especially the bears of the Great Bear Rainforest on the northwest coast, but I was disappointed with this duos' first picture book featuring them - although the photographs were lovely, the text was disjointed. This second title, featuring the wolves of the rainforest, is much better and I'm eager to add it to my library.

The story begins with a wolf, with thick, shaggy fur in a multitude of colors, swimming to a new island. He's ready to begin life on his own and has found his own territory. The wolf is sometimes lonely, but there's plenty of food to find and places to explore. He hunts for salmon, eats fish eggs, and tracks deer. Finally, another wolf arrives and the first wolf has a mate! The two have a litter of cubs and the island has a new pack of wolves.

While there's not an extensive amount of information in the text and the wolf is more anthropomorphic more than I would like, the gorgeous photographs let the reader into a special world. Placid sunsets, roiling seas, and all the rich life of the northwest rainforest is shown in this pictorial journey of one wolf from loneliness to a new pack.

Verdict: If you have wolf fans, this is a book that will introduce them to a unique group and their lives at sea and on land.

ISBN: 9781459812642; Published 2017 by Orca; Borrowed from another library in my consortium

I really like how the publisher is laying this book series out. Yes it is about whales, but it emcompasses their entire world. Who do they see on the shore. What are some interesting bits about the grizzly and the black bear. They have amazing pictures, and often info bits not normally found in this level of a book. Periscoping was something I had seen, but never heard about until reading this kids book. These are really well done and great for any library collection.

McAllister and Read’s The Seal Garden is a beautiful nonfiction book geared towards young readers, stuffed with gorgeous photos and fun facts. Ever wonder where marine creatures go to seek safety in storms, or against much bigger predators? They go to a 'seal garden’! How cool is that? These are kelp forests where large predators like orca cannot go, and where the seals and other small creatures can be safe from massive storm swells. These pictures are beyond beautiful. You can really tell the photographer loves his work. My cubs and I loved learning about the critters that call seal gardens home, and look forward to more in this series!

Read my review for A Bear’s Life.
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***Many thanks to Netgalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Wonderful photographs and informative text tell the story of a "seal garden" - a place where smaller sea creatures can weather storms and be protected from large predators such as the orcas who make an appearance late in the book. I'm not sure if the term "seal garden" is a well known one or if it is something the authors decided to call this magical place, but the book will appeal to young readers--and their parents!

A Bear’s Life by Nicholas Read is the second book in the My Great Bear Rainforest series. Full of beautiful photographs, and fun facts about the bears and other wildlife of the rainforest, this book will teach young readers all about the daily life and behaviour of the bears. The lessons are from bear perspective, so you get an idea of how cubs learn from mom. In addition to black bears and grizzlies, readers also learn about the very special Spirit Bear, which is a genetic aberration among black bears, and are sacred animals.

My little ones (and the older ones) really enjoyed learning about the rainforest, and the bears. This is a perfect book for any young reader that enjoys nature and animals.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Orca Publishing for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

A Bear's Life by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read is an excellent nature book that has the most fabulous images! There are pictures of bears, other animals, of the gorgeous natural landscape, of the "spirit bears", of bears fishing, and more. The pictures are crisp, clear, and stunning! They make the reader feel warm, caring, and understanding to the bear and their life, and surroundings. The information that accompanies the pictures gives the reader information about the life of the bears, what it would be like to be a bear, what they would get, see, do, hunt, etc. A great book for kids of all ages. Great learning book and a great visual delight! I want to thank NetGalley and the book publishers for allowing me to read this book.

This new book is by the co-author of The Salmon Bears and The Sea Wolves, both awesome nonfiction books about the amazing wildlife of the Great Bear Rainforest. As you can tell from the title, this book is a little more urban.

Each chapter looks at a different type of animal and shows which species have evolved to live in an urban setting. We see animals that everyone thinks of like rats, raccoons, pigeons, cockroaches, butterflies, and seagulls and some that might be surprising; cougars, moose, sea lions, alligators, and herons.

The final chapter discusses what people can do to help the wildlife in their urban area. There is also a glossary, resources, and index. Each chapter, in addition to the main text, includes lots of photographs and insets with additional information about the various animals, scientific information, and stories about animals in urban settings.

I found the final chapter to be somewhat disorganized. The author is obviously passionate about wildlife and concerned about humans encroaching on their environment, but the chapter seems to jump around a lot and some things, like feeding hummingbirds in the winter and not the spring, aren't explained.

Verdict: Other than my minor quibbles with the final chapter, this is a really good overview of urban wildlife in North America. It's a fascinating read for both children and adults and with the interesting, brisk pace of the text, lots of photographs, and clear, simple glossary this will be a favorite for animal lovers and kids looking for a subject for reports. I'm really kicking myself that I didn't get around to reading it until it was too late to nominate for Cybils!

ISBN: 9781554693948; Published 2012 by Orca; Borrowed from another library in our consortium; Added to the library's order list