Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World

by Celia Godkin, Celia Godkin (Illustrator)

Overview

The story of a peregrine falcon and its mate's struggle to raise their young is told against the backdrop of scientists' efforts to understand the raptors' decline in the wild. After a devastating effect on the bird's lifecycle is linked to the pesticide DDT, the world's fastest bird must depend on humans to recover and thrive once more.

High in the sky, a peregrine falcon joins her mate for some swooping and diving before returning to her nest to guard her eggs. The couple doesn't know it yet, but they will lose most of these eggs - the first clutch to a volunteer scaling the cliff, and the next to the harmful effects of DDT.

Told against the backdrop of scientists' efforts to understand the raptors' decline in the wild, this illustrated non-fiction book tells the story of several generations of falcons as they're taken to a sanctuary, reintegrated into the wild, and ultimately relocated to the ledge of a city skyscraper. With dynamic oil illustrations, author and wildlife artist Celia Godkin effortlessly captures the detail of the falcons and brings to life the different landscapes they inhabit.

Skydiver will delight and inform readers with a passion for species preservation, as it documents the struggles and the eventual success of the efforts to save the fastest bird in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927485613
Publisher:	Pajama Press Inc.
Publication date:	08/01/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 10.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Author-illustrator Celia Godkin is is best known for her debut book, Wolf Island, which won the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award. She has continued to write and illustrate children's books with environmental themes including Fire! which was shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction. Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World, has been nominated for the Green Earth Book Award. Born in England, Celia lives in Eastern Ontario.

Celia Godkin is an award-winning author and illustrator best known for her debut book, Wolf Island, which won the Children's Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award. She has continued to write and illustrate children's books with environmental themes including Fire! which was shortlisted for the Norma Fleck Award for Canadian Children's Non-Fiction. She has also received numerous OLA Forest of Reading nominations. Born in England, Celia lives in Eastern Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World

2016 Hackmatack Children's Choice Award shortlist

2016 Rainforest of Reading Award shortlist

2015 Green Earth Book Award shortlist

2015 Bank Street Best Book selection

2014 Canadian Children's Book Centre Best Books for Kids & Teens selection

2014 Resource Links "The Year's Best"

"In clear and engaging language, Godkin frames this informative book around the story a pair of falcons and their offspring. The dramatic mating display of the male and the courtship dance between the two are beautifully illustrated."—School Library Journal

"Dramatic oil paintings show falcons in various activities...this success story will be welcomed by nature lovers."—Kirkus Reviews

"An attractive, informative picture book."—Booklist

"Crisp text and exquisite paintings...This book is highly recommended for both school and public libraries."—Resource Links

"Godkin's writing is clear and concise and well-researched...dramatic full-colour paintings illuminate each page....Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World is well worth a place on the shelves of the wildlife section in an elementary school library. Highly Recommended"—CM Magazine

"Godkin…once again inspires young readers with an informative account about the natural world—in this case the successful conservation of a species."—Canadian Children's Book News

"An accomplished artist, Godkin also gives us pictures of this extraordinarily swift bird...it is these illustrations - as well as Godkin’s advice to "Look up!" - that will really inform and excite children about these beautiful birds."—The National Reading Campaign

"…informative text…detailed accompanying artwork…An author's note encourages readers to find out more."—Sal's Fiction Addiction

From the Publisher

…Godkin…once again inspires young readers with an informative account about the natural world—in this case the successful conservation of a species.

Canadian Children's Book News

Godkin's writing is clear and concise and well-researched . . . .dramatic full-colour paintings illuminate each page . . . .Skydiver: Saving the Fastest Bird in the World is well worth a place on the shelves of the wildlife section in an elementary school library. **Highly Recommended**

CM Magazine

…informative text…detailed accompanying artwork…An author's note encourages readers to find out more.

Sal's Fiction Addiction

An accomplished artist, Godkin also gives us pictures of this extraordinarily swift bird…it is these illustrations̬as well as Godkin’s advice to “Look up!”—that will really inform and excite children about these beautiful birds."

National Reading Campaign blog

07/01/2014
K-Gr 2—A look at the peregrine falcon, whose population was almost decimated as a result of the extensive use of the pesticide DDT. In clear and engaging language, Godkin frames this informative book around the story a pair of falcons and their offspring. The dramatic mating display of the male and the courtship dance between the two are beautifully illustrated. Occasionally, the birds are anthropomorphized (for instance, the female "joyfully" rises up to join her mate in flight). The author discusses the idea of the food chain, explaining that while DDT didn't kill falcons outright, it caused their eggs to become so brittle that most broke before hatching. She explains how environmentalists were successful in having DDT banned but says that brittle eggs remain a problem many years later and that continuing human intervention is necessary to help restore the population. Godkin follows the fate of four eggs taken from the pair of falcons introduced in the beginning pages, and readers learn how some hatchlings are taken to sanctuaries to be incubated. Of the original four eggs, one hatchling is taken to a sanctuary, two survive after being moved from a cliffside nesting platform to a ledge on a city skyscraper, and the last falls victim to a great horned owl. An author's note provides further resources and information on both peregrine falcons, and pesticide use.—Nancy Silverrod, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

2014-06-18
Threatened with extinction across North America, peregrine falcons were bred in captivity and provided with new territories until their populations rebounded.Godkin begins her account of this environmental good news by introducing a peregrine pair who return from migration, court and lay eggs, only to have their first eggs taken by a rock-climbing human being. Luckily, peregrines will lay a second clutch, and the human has a good reason for the theft. Because the raptors’ DDT-affected eggs are too fragile to hatch normally, researchers have found a way to raise and breed them in captivity, releasing some into the wild after a carefully shielded chickhood and thereby saving the endangered species. Dramatic oil paintings show falcons in various activities—soaring, diving, hunting and feeding their chicks—and chicks being fed in captivity. In a change of pace, one spread shows a city street filled with people demonstrating against DDT. Later, a marauding great horned owl finds a nest; the surviving nestlings are moved to a city skyscraper ledge. Readers of this present-tense account who follow the links mentioned in the author’s note may be surprised to learn that this is not a new story. Peregrine falcons were removed from the U.S. and Canadian endangered species lists in 1999, though they’re still monitored in both countries.Old or new, this success story will be welcomed by nature lovers. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

An accomplished artist, Godkin also gives us pictures of this extraordinarily swift bird...it is these illustrations - as well as Godkin’s advice to "Look up!" - that will really inform and excite children about these beautiful birds.

The National Reading Campaign

crisp text and exquisite paintings...This book is highly recommended for both school and public libraries.

Resource Links

An attractive, informative picture book.

Booklist

An attractive, informative picture book.

Booklist