Review by Booklist Review
Though inspired by the sight of a snowy owl in New York State, this story begins on Baffin Island, where four eggs lie in a nest on the arctic tundra. The mother owl protects the eggs, which soon hatch, while the father provides food for his family by hunting lemmings. Two of the nestlings are taken by predators. The remaining male learns to fly and, in the fall, migrates south and finally lands on a farm in the Adirondacks. In the spring, he returns to his birthplace. An informative author's note comments on the range, size, food, courtship, nesting, growth, and survival of snowy owls. Varied in composition, well focused, and often panoramic in effect, the watercolor paintings depict the snowy owl's world as well as the bird himself. This handsome picture book tells and illustrates the story without sentimentality or anthropomorphism. The owl's journey becomes an involving story for children and a fine addition to classroom units on migration.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Hiscock has long been into "big"-think The Big Rock (S & S, 1988) and The Big Caribou Herd (Boyds Mills, 2003)-and here he focuses on North America's second-biggest owl. Snowies are Arctic dwellers whose sporadic irruptions into more southerly climes bring out birders with binoculars in bunches. Hiscock's realistic, detailed watercolors perfectly match his prose in this inviting "biography" of a typical Snowy during a cycle when lemmings, the birds' choice prey, are few. Following Ookpik from egg to hatchling to fledgling to a young adult forced into a southward flight to avoid starvation, the author presents not only the owl's general behaviors and preferred habitat, but also its coping skills in adapting to a biome not its own. A final page proffers a bundle of facts on Snowy owls-range, size, food, courtship and nesting behaviors, and more. Elegant and informative.-Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
After surviving the challenging early months of life, a young snowy owl journeys south in search of food during a bleak Arctic winter. This information-rich narrative relates the bird's experiences with nature's harsh realities in a straightforward but poetic style. Detailed watercolor and pencil illustrations showing the changing scenery capably underscore the vast distance traveled. An author's note gives more information. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Snowy owls, birds of the frozen far north, appear in the lower 48 states only sporadically, in winters when the lemming population has crashed and food is in short supply. Inspired by such a visitation, Hiscock follows an owl through his first year, from egg to hatchling, first flight and migration from the Baffin Island tundra, over the taiga, past Ottawa, to spend the winter on a farm in northern New York before returning to his arctic home. A map of the bird's imagined journey introduces the narrative, which includes an owl's growth and development, feeding, natural predators and prey. Detailed watercolors illustrate the varied landscapes, often in sweeping double-page spreads. Although Ookpik (the Inuktitut word for "snowy owl") is slightly personified for the sake of the story, the narrative generally sticks to the possible facts and an extensive author's note at the end provides further information. Like his earlier Big Caribou Herd (2003), this conveys the author's love for that remote part of the world and provides a fine introduction for middle-grade readers. (Nonfiction. 7-10) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
