Cindy Trumbore

Here is a grand deed, as basic as a science-fair project, that had a profound application bringing health and economic bounty to a small coastal town, Hargigo, in Eritrea. Dr. Gordon Santo had a brainstorm: Why not plant mangrove trees in the waters off Hargigo? The leaves would feed the town’s hungry herds of sheep and goats and provide wood for fuel; the trees’ root system would attract fish (a food and revenue source); and the trees themselves would do what trees are so good show more at—converting carbon dioxide to oxygen. Roth’s artwork is a treat, cut-paper and fabric collages of intense, shimmering color on a ground of paper that is electric with thick veins of fiber (photos join glossary in backmatter). Roth and Trumbore’s cumulative verse goes about its merry way on the left page—“These are the shepherds / Who watch the goats / and watch the sheep / That eat the leaves”—while a narrative on the right takes readers on Santo’s journey. He has named the project Manzanar, after the internment camp where he was placed during World War II, because he wanted to turn that experience (where he first grew desert plants) into something good. Hitting home hard is the project’s simple practicality: no high-tech, no great infusions of capital or energy—in a word, motivating, in the best possible way. (Informational picture book. 6-9)

-Kirkus Review show less

Parrots Over Puerto Rico, however, is an extraordinary exception. Using highly detailed collage art, and employing many textured and brightly colored materials, Susan L. Roth has created a book that accurately portrays the colors of the island and evokes the stunning beauty of the endangered parrots of Puerto Rico. Designed to be read "portrait style," the collages cover about 2/3 of each double-spread layout. Cindy Trumbore's narrative appears in a simple black font in the bottom third of show more the collage against a plain, complementary-colored background.

As stunning as it is, the artwork is not the only thing to love about Parrots over Puerto Rico. An astute teacher's dream, Parrots takes a holistic view of the parrots' rapid decline and slow slog back to viability in the wild. As the story of the American Bison is forever entwined with the story of American Westward expansion, the Puerto Rican's parrot story is entwined with that of the Tainos, the Spaniards, and the Americans, as well as that of invasive species, and natural disasters like Hurricane Hugo.

Existing for millions of years on the island of Puerto Rico, they once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, and by 1975, had dwindled to only 13.

"Above the treetops of Puerto Rico flies a flock or parrots as green as their island home. If you look up from the forest, and you are very lucky, you might catch the bright blue flashes of their flight feathers and hear their harsh call.
These are Puerto Rican parrots. They lived on this island for millions of years, and then they nearly vanished from the earth forever. This is their story."

An Afterword contains photographs and information on the Puerto Rican Parrot Recovery Program. Also included is a timeline of Important Dates in the History of Puerto Rico and Puerto Rican Parrots, and Author's Sources.

A video and more at http://shelf-employed.blogspot.com/2014/01/parrots-over-puerto-rico-review.html show less

The first part of this book draws parallels between the history of the Puerto Rican parrot the history of Puerto Rico itself. About halfway through the book, when the parrots become truly endangered, the focus shifts away from Peurto Rican history and concentrates on efforts to rehabilitate the parrot population.

Interesting and well-written, but not a stunner in my eyes. In terms of nonfiction books for kids about endangered species, I greatly prefer last year's show more [b:Moonbird|2017786|Moonbird|Joyce Dunbar|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320427691s/2017786.jpg|2022111] by Phillip Hoose, which was for older readers and more in-depth. I also really love [b:Can We Save the Tiger|9322920|Can We Save the Tiger?|Martin Jenkins|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320546044s/9322920.jpg|14206118] by Martin Jenkins. And of course there is the fantastic [b:Kakapo Rescue|7683285|Kakapo Rescue Saving the World's Strangest Parrot (Scientists in the Field Series)|Sy Montgomery|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388303129s/7683285.jpg|10330134] by Sy Montgomery.

I don't want to be overly critical of a perfectly good book, but I do think this suffers from an in-between problem. The illustrations are beautiful and evocative, but give off a "little kid" vibe, which doesn't match the more sophisticated vocabulary used in the book. So it's somewhere in between a primary and intermediate audience. It's too long for a group read-aloud and I don't think it quite rises to the level of a great dramatic story. Yet it's not written in a way that lends itself to fact finding for reports, except the afterword which has photographs and a timeline. So it's in between narrative nonfiction and traditional informational nonfiction.

But maybe this in-betweeness is a good thing on some level. It might reach a wider audience and have broader appeal because it isn't so easily categorized. I certainly hope to see more nonfiction of this caliber for young readers! show less

Silbert Award Winner
The collages are stunning, colorful and full of life and movement, bringing the island of the parrots to life. The book acts as a history through the eyes of the parrots, starting before people lived on the island and follows their rise and fall until modern day when they needed to be hand hatched in order to increase the population. Than back pages contain contain more real photos of the parrots and the scientists dedicated to helping them survive. The writing, while show more incredibly informative, does not live up to the liveliness or the interest of the illustrations, leaving my 5 year old bored about 4 pages in. show less