Product Description

Today is doomsday for a young Venezuelan Indian boy's beloved rain forest and its animal life—unless he and a visiting naturalist can save it. "George makes drama large and small out of the minute-by-minute events in an ecosystem . . . gripping ecological theater." —C. "An example of nonfiction writing at its best." —SLJ.

Notable 1990 Children's Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)
Outstanding Science Trade Books for Children 1990 (NSTA/CBC)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #427926 in Books
• Published on: 1995-09-30
• Released on: 1995-09-29
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780064420167
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
It takes a few pages to catch the rhythm of naturalist George's new book, but once readers do, they'll find themselves drawn in. Set on the banks of the Orinoco River, the fictionalized tale chronicles the efforts of Tepui, an Indian boy, to help a group of scientists find a new species of butterfly, thereby saving the Venezuelan rain forest from being bulldozed into oblivion. The tension created by this literary device--which in the hands of a less skillful writer could have appeared contrived--adds considerable impact to this timely, well-wrought work. George imparts an amazing amount of information about these fast-disappearing tracts of land as she carefully describes the delicate ecological balance of exotic flora and fauna--from flesh-eating army ants to the vast colonies of butterflies that flutter high above the canopy of trees. Children will come away from this book not only with a satisfying story, but more importantly, with a clear understanding of why these areas are worth preserving. Ages 9 - 12.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
George has again taken a microscope to a typical day in a natural region. An Indian boy leads a scientist who is trying to locate a previously unknown butterfly that the scientist hopes will halt the destruction of this particular rain forest. At the same time, a horde of army ants moves across the forest floor; a sloth comes down from a tree for its weekly visit; and other animals go about their daily business. Such ordinary happenings make an exciting sequence of events that holds readers' attention as they also learn facts about the flora and fauna of the rain forest. There may not be enough material here for a report, but the book is an example of nonfiction writing at its best, for readers learn facts and get a sense of the rain forest in diary form rather than straight factual writing. The description of the relationship between the destruction of the rain forest and the greenhouse effect is easy to understand, and the index helps readers wanting specific facts. The drawings are clear, but do not expand the textual information. --Margaret C. Howell, West Springfield Elem . School, VA
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author
Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in a family of naturalists, Jean George has centered her life around writing and nature. She attended Pennsylvania State University, graduating with degrees in English and science. In the 1940s she was a member of the White House press corps and a reporter for the Washington Post. Ms. George, who has written over 90 books - among them My Side of the Mountain (Dutton), a 1960 Newbery Honor Book, and its sequels On the Far Side of the Mountain and Frightful's Mountain (both Dutton) - also hikes, canoes, and makes sourdough pancakes. In 1991, Ms. George became the first winner of the School Library Media Section of the New York Library Association's Knickerbocker Award for Juvenile Literature, which was presented to her for the "consistent superior quality" of her literary works.

Her inspiration for the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves evolved from two specific events during a summer she spent studying wolves and tundra at the Arctic Research Laboratory of Barrow, Alaska: "One was a small girl walking the vast ad lonesome tundra outside of Barrow; the other was a magnificent alpha male wolf, leader of a pack in Denali National Park ... They haunted me for a year or more, as did the words of one of the scientists at the lab: 'If there ever was any doubt in my mind that a man could live with the wolves, it is gone now. The wolves are truly gentlemen, highly social and affectionate.'"

The mother of three children, Jean George is a grandmother who has joyfully red to her grandchildren since they were born. Over the years Jean George has kept 173 pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn, when the sun changes their behavior and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."

Customer Reviews

Reviewed by 2 groups of 3rd grade ESL students
1. This book is about Tepui, a boy who lives in the Tropical Rain Forest of the Macaw. The bulldozers and chain sawyers are headed toward the rain forest. Tepui and Dr. Rivero, a biologist, have one more day left to save the rain forest. They need to catch a nameless butterfly, then a rich man will buy the rain forest and name the butterfly after his daughter. Will they be in time? This book is awesome because it has a lot of information about the rain forest and it's a good story.

2. This book is about Tepui, an Indian boy. He lives in a Venezuelan rain forest. Tepui and Dr. Rivero (a biologist) have one day to find a butterfly without a name. If they find the butterfly, a rich man will name the butterfly after his daughter, and buy the rain forest. Will they find the butterfly in time? This book is cool because it has interesting facts about the rain forest.

Much good information
An unnamed butterfly must be found today in order to save this chunk of the rainforest. Loggers are already on the way to cut it all down. The premise is exciting, but the execution of the story, particularly in the beginning, is often less than pulse-stirring, weighted down by a thousand facts about rainforests. These facts are, however, by far the most interesting part of the book, and there's even an index. Once I was into the book, I enjoyed it very much. So far I have not been able to get my son to do more than open it, and I think the slow start may be the problem. This would be an exvellent book to have in a classroom during a unit on rainforests.

A young boy's determination to save his beautiful homeland
This is a great book. At the start I thought I was headed into a story of good versus bad, where nature played the good guy and man the bad. As if things could be that simple. Instead I found an honest well-balanced story that centers on a young boy's efforts to save his home in the rain forest. Ms. George provides fascinating descriptions of the many layers of animal and human life that are engaged in the same struggle for survival. All is brought to a satisfactory conclusion with the hidden acknowledgement that it still takes one kind of green stuff to save another kind of green stuff.