Enter the dark Antarctic winter, where a pair of emperor penguins share the task of keeping their young one alive—and discover how fighting climate change is key to their survival.
As harsh winter descends and other birds move toward warmth, lines of emperor penguins appear in search of the perfect ice for breeding and raising their chicks. One wise old empress finds her mate, and after laying a single, huge egg, heads to the stormy ocean to hunt for fish. For weeks, her mate must warm the egg in his pouch, huddling against blizzards and bitter cold. When his mate returns, the two take turns fishing and minding their newly hatched chick until it’s big enough to stay warm on its own.
Luminously illustrated by Catherine Rayner, Nicola Davies’s engrossing narrative expands the focus from one emperor family to the plight of the breed as it faces displacement due to climate change. An afterword details the loss of many emperor chicks at Halley Bay after a storm broke up the ice under one of the largest penguin colonies—and encourages readers to help protect the environment so these extraordinary survivors will continue to be found in the Antarctic for generations to come.---from the publisher
32 pages 978-1536228397 Ages 5-9
Keywords: penguins, climate change, cause and effect, survival, ecology and environment, zoology, Antarctica, polar regions, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old, 8 year old, 9 year old, Science Curriculum
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It's April, and one of the most important months of the year for the Emperor penguins as the sun gets lower and lower in the sky, the temperatures drop and the sea ice starts to form and provide the platform for them to breed. Smooth enough to walk and slide on, and low enough for the birds to be able to leap into the ocean, it lasts just long enough to be able to raise a chick and so, as the day shorten, satellites pick up long lines of these creatures - the largest and most majestic of all the penguin species - making their way to Halley Bay, Antarctica "like spidery writing across a blank page." There they will bond, mate and raise a solitary chick - but could this be the last time the rituals and routines happen?
In this beautifully illustrated book, we follow a sequence of events that has happened since time immemorial, but, as with so many creatures, climate change is having an impact even in this remote spot. In fact, it is probably more noticeable in these extreme climates where more severe storms rage than ever before and the amount of sea ice is noticeably less. Since severe storms in September 2016 broke up the sea ice in Halley Bay, no Emperor penguins have bred there. And although satellites have been able to confirm that there are 61 breeding sites (compared to the known 36 before that imagery was available), showing that they have found alternatives, there are estimated to be only just over 250 000 breeding pairs and their changing habitat means fewer chicks are surviving to independence.
Climate change, human impact on natural habitat, and the planet's sustainability and preservation are now deeply embedded into the curriculum from the earliest years and even our youngest students have a growing awareness of its potential. So books like these, which do more than explain what it is by showing its effect on creatures that they relate to, have an important role to play in helping them understand not only what is happening but start them thinking about what they can do to minimise their own footprint.
An ideal companion for the others in the series- The Season of Giraffes and Ice Journey of the Polar Bear.
This review can also be found here.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
The Bottom Shelf http://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/
