New Zealand author Sandra Markle and American illustrator Mia Posada join forces in this engaging and informative look at the long migration of the bar-tailed godwit, a species of bird that regularly migrates from Alaska to New Zealand. The narrative follows the story of one young godwit, who hatches in Alaska, quickly grows to maturity, and makes her first flight to New Zealand - a distance of 7,000 miles - with a flock of other young godwits who have never taken this journey before. Astonishingly, they fly without stopping, burning off much of the fat they put on in Alaska. Once in New Zealand, the godwit lives for a year or two, before making the return trip to Alaska to have young of her own...

I have encountered both Markle and Posada before, Markle through her marvelous Animals Explorers Saw series, and Posada through such excellent titles as Who Was Here?: Discovering Wild Animal Tracks and Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves' Hidden Colors, so I was excited to track down The Long, Long Journey: The Godwit's Amazing Migration. It did not disappoint, providing an engaging narrative, and a wealth of fascinating information. Apparently the arrival and departure of the godwits are major events in New Zealand, signally the beginning of different seasons, and reported on the news. This reminds me a bit of the American custom of Groundhog Day, in which animal behavior gives an indication of seasonal change to the human population. The godwit's journey is an amazing one, especially when one considers how tiny these creatures are, and how far the have to fly, and I thought Markle's approach here was a wise one, giving children a personal stake in the story through the individual godwit's narrative, but also providing additional information at the back, as well as a list of further resources. The accompanying artwork from Posada was lovely, with muted color palette and a collage style well-suited to the story. Recommended to all young animal and nature lovers, and to anyone seeking picture-books about animal migrations. ( )

This is a lovely and accessible picture book detailing the godwit's early life and first 11,700-mile migration from Alaska to New Zealand. The book includes a short bibliography of print and internet follow-up books. The author also explains what the flight of godwits means to her: the arrival of spring in New Zealand, where she lives. In Christchurch, crowds celebrate both the arrival and leaving of these marvelous birds. ( )

This informational book shows the life cycle of a young godwit and discusses how the young bird grows up to eventually be independent.

Stellar narrative nonfiction. ( )

I quite enjoyed this book. It is a bird migration story for the younger elementary crowd. Apparently it a really big deal in New Zealand when the godwit arrives after migrating from Alaska. The artwork really adds much to this book. Somehow I found the font a perfect match for the art. The author adds interesting back matter. ( )