Review by Booklist Review
It's summer in the Arctic, and the water is warming up and filling with life. An Arctic tern splashes into the sea, snatching a fish from the shallows. He's on an important mission to feed his two tufty chicks as the mother keeps them warm and safe. Constant danger lurks for the freshly hatched terns, but the colony members watch out for one another, driving off hungry predators hoping for a quick chick snack. The younglings survive the summer, but they have another incredible challenge ahead: a three-month journey to Antarctica. They embark without hesitation, sailing over open seas and feasting on the food that the ocean provides. They contend with occasional predators, like the scary skua, but there are friendlier animals, too: flocks of flamingos, drifting turtles, and playful porpoises. On and on the terns fly until they reach their destination, joining other birds and aquatic creatures to delight in the plentiful food and sunshine. Before long, cooler temperatures set in, and the refreshed terns prepare to make the long journey back north. The incredible adventure is told via lovely lyrical text and exceptional artwork awash in activity and detail. Immersive illustrations capture the brightness of sunny days at sea and the cool depths of the ocean, and there's a marvelous sense of movement on every spectacular page. An extraordinary natural journey well worth taking.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With soaring lines washed in luminous colors, Moore (Yoshi and the Ocean) traces a year in the life of the arctic tern--an animal that, back matter suggests, may experience more sunlight than any other on Earth. The migrating birds raise their young during the arctic summer, then "follow the sun south" to spend the antarctic spring feeding, molting, and growing new feathers for their return trip to the Arctic--and polar summer. Throughout, careful illustrations set the terns alongside a larger community of wildlife: the tiny fish on which they feed, an arctic fox eyeing new chicks, and a skua who tries to steal fish. Graceful rhythms of flying birds and schooling fish give movement to the pages, aerial close-ups of birds lend a sense of drama, and reiterative text follows global weather patterns (in both the Arctic and Antarctic, "The sun is shining./ It breaks up the ice./ It wakes up the water"). Even accounting for fearful predators and arduous long-distance flights, this work presents the arctic tern--a creature "no heavier/ than a handful of sand"--as a creature that not only survives in its harsh environment, but thrives. More information concludes. Ages 4--8. (Feb.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Text and pictures soar in this view of the longest annual migration in the natural world. With contagious wonder and a memorable observation that the Arctic tern sees more sunlight than any other creature, Moore retraces the long yearly journey of small birds "no heavier / than a handful of sand" from Arctic summer waters to Antarctic ones. There, she writes, they molt and feed on krill along with the local minke whales before seasons change and they begin their flights back north to nest. In luminous watercolors, she begins with a nesting pair who feed small fish to hatchlings and courageously gather with other adults to drive away predators, from ravens to a "fierce and hungry" polar bear. Later they share the sea's "fall feast" with puffins, fly with migratory flamingos, rest for a time in midocean atop a sea turtle, then continue to follow the sun on their southward flight over the mountains of Patagonia and on to the Weddell Sea. The author adds further facts about these birds and their "epic migration" at the end, plus a world map that shows routes and other useful information. Just as immersive as herSea Bear (2019), this outing is sure to leave budding naturalists enthralled and impressed. Natural science at its most visually and verbally lyrical. (resource lists)(Informational picture book. 6-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
