Emi and the Rhino Scientist

by Mary Kay Carson

Overview

Terri Roth trudges through the thick, dark Sumatran jungle. She’s looking for a rhinoceros that’s been seen in the area. It’s a rare Sumatran rhino, the world’s smallest rhino and one of the most endangered mammals on the planet.Suddenly she spots a young female rhino through the tangle of ferns and trees. The stocky animal is covered in reddish hair, and her snout sports two stubby horns. The rhino walks right up to Terri. The scientist slowly reaches out her hand and touches the rhino’s big nose. The wild rhino’s curiosity and friendliness remind Terri of Emi, the female Sumatran rhino that lives at the Cincinnati Zoo where Terri works. Terri is working with Emi to help save Sumatran rhinos from extinction—one calf at a time.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547408507
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/25/2010
Series:	Scientists in the Field Series
Pages:	57
Product dimensions:	10.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	910L (what's this?)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mary Kay Carson lives with her husband, Tom Uhlman, and their dog, Ruby, in a century-old house surrounded by deer, hawks, woodchucks, songbirds, and other creatures in Cincinnati, Ohio. Check out their other Scientists in the Field books, including The Tornado Scientist, Park Scientists, Emi and the Rhino Scientist, The Bat Scientists, Inside Biosphere 2, and Mission to Pluto.

Editorial Reviews

"With clearly written text, detailed and well-produced photographs and helpful maps and charts...should be welcome in high-school as well as middle-school libraries." Kirkus, Starred 9/15/07 Kirkus Reviews, Starred

"Carson provides fascinating detail...color photographs featuring Roth at work are upstaged only by those of the rhinos themselves..." The Horn Book, Nov/Dec 2007 Horn Book

The text is ful of important details, and the photographs are unfailingly crisp, bright, and full of variety." SLJ November 2007 School Library Journal

"Pair this with other animal titles...and make sure kids get a chance to view Emi real-time on the zoo's webcam." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"This latest in the Scientists in the Field series has all the elements of top-notch nonfiction." Booklist 12/1/07 Booklist, ALA, Starred Review

"An engaging new volume." The Washington Post 12/08/07 The Washington Post

Wilde Award Winner - Best Nonfiction

News and Observer, December 16, 2007 News and Observer —

From the Publisher

Gr 5-8 Through lively prose and stunning full-color photographs, readers learn how Terri Roth, an expert in endangered-species reproduction at the Cincinnati Zoo, helped Emi to give birth to the first Sumatran rhino born in captivity in more than 100 years. One of five rhino species, the Sumatran rhino is relatively tiny (3 to 5 feet tall, weighing from 1300 to 2000 pounds) compared to the other species (ranging from 4.5 to 6.5 feet and weighing from 1700 to 6000 pounds). Illustrations superimposed on a world map show their differing appearances from Africa to India to Asia. The text is full of important details, and the photographs are unfailingly crisp, bright, and full of variety. Reproductive biology and breeding with human assistance are explained as are the conservation and environmental issues impacting rhino survival in the wild. Like many of the entries in this popular series, Emi is engaging and informative.-Frances E. Millhouser, formerly at Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA

School Library Journal

Working in the Cincinnati Zoo as part of a worldwide effort to support endangered animals, scientist Terri Roth succeeds in helping a pair of Sumatran rhinos reproduce, using techniques that can be used to help other rhinoceroses both in captivity and, indirectly, in the wild. Woven into the saga of Emi, Ipuh and their progeny is a thorough introduction to this intriguing mammal, which is, next to elephants, the largest land animal in the world. With clearly written text, detailed and well-reproduced photographs and helpful maps and charts, Carson and Uhlman describe the five rhinoceros varieties in the world today, including something of their background, their habits and habitats, their similarities and differences. (A "Rhino field guide" with fast facts is part of the backmatter.) Other members of the zoo team are shown supporting Roth's work. The emphases on reproductive science and zoo work both make this an unusual addition to the admirable Scientists in the Field series, one that should be welcome in high-school as well as middle-school libraries. (glossary, suggested reading and websites, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)

Kirkus Reviews