Review by Booklist Review
The titular incredible conveys the substance of travel writer Unwin's descriptions of animal migrations: many travel greater distances in a single direction than most humans travel in a lifetime! For instance, swallows fly from Europe to Africa and back in their annual migration, and hummingbirds may make a 6000-mile annual round-trip. Following a brief introduction that explains reasons for migration, each two-page spread focuses on one of the book's 20 insects, animals, or birds. He concludes with a map and migration key, indicating the paths of all animals in the book. Desmond's soft, muted art created with watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, and pencil crayon provides the background for each spread and includes a large image of the featured animal, repeated smaller images, or surroundings. Unwin's text occupies one side of the spread, while a caption in much smaller (and difficult-to-decipher) font is placed on the opposing page. Black font on the lighter pages is mostly easy to read, but sometimes proves difficult on darker backgrounds. Nevertheless, this remains a lovely book, best read individually or one-on-one.--J. B. Petty Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A bat-speckled sky over Kasanka Forest, a colorful blizzard of monarchs in a Mexican wood, penguins ribboning across an Antarctic plateau, a sea of scuttling scarlet crabs--these are some of the dazzling images that make turning every page of this book a delight. Unwin presents the epic journeys of 21 diverse species, from dragonflies to whales, one per spread, adroitly relating the marvels of each creature's migration. Context deepens the magic of the sometimes mind-boggling figures--"The Arctic tern... over its lifetime... may fly as far as four round-trips to the moon." Desmond's expert illustrations--created with watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, and pencil crayon--shimmer on the page, capturing the fragility and abundance of the natural world. A map traces the migration paths globally, ending on a warning note: "People are... damaging the vital natural habitats through which animals migrate... these animals need our help." Ages 5--8. (Aug.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
From humpback whales to green turtles, 20 examples of seasonal migration illustrate remarkable animal journeys.Spread by spread, Unwin, who writes regularly about wildlife, provides a brief description of these animals' journeys. His informal and engaging exposition is set directly on gentle paintings of these creatures in a customary environment. Desmond's art, created with watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, and pencil crayon, incorporates a paragraph of additional information about each species. It is her images that make this oversize album stand out. Caribou swim across an Arctic river; monarch butterflies fill a forest of evergreens in Mexico; red crabs swarm across a road on Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean. There are both familiar and unfamiliar bird migrations: emperor penguin, Arctic tern, wandering albatross, ruby-throated hummingbird, bar-headed goose, and whooping crane. There are bats; pilchard and salmon; African elephants and wildebeest. This is a U.K. import, and American readers may be surprised by the European examples of animals that also migrate in the Western Hemisphere: great white sharks, barn swallows, and osprey. A different point of view is refreshing, but North American teachers and librarians will want to make sure that they also have books that show these animals closer to home. Since publication in Great Britain in 2018, at least one fact has already become outdated. The use of ultralights to aid whooping crane migration was discontinued in 2016.An attractive addition to units on migration in the primary or middle grades. (map) (Informational picture book. 6-10) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
