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Crossings: Extraordinary Structures for Extraordinary Animals
Author: Katy S Duffield Illustrator: Mike Orodan
Publisher: Beach Lane Books 2020
The illustrations in this book are beautiful and the message is hopeful. As the population on Earth grows, animals have less space. Roads and highways cross habitats and are especially threatening to wildlife. The book starts with a clear explanation of why these crossings are needed. Many examples of crossings that go “over, under, above or through” are given from elephants and penguins to monkeys and crabs and many more. “Over, under, above, or through” are repeated throughout the book reminding children of how the different animals move. I love that kids in Puerto Rico came up with one of the solutions. Examples come from many places across the world. Layered text provides simple text for younger readers but extra text with more details for older readers. Back matter includes a map showing where the crossings in the book are located along with more information
Make Way for Animals! A World of Wildlife Crossings
Author: Meeg Pincus Illustrator: Bao Luu
Publisher: Millbrook Press 2022
Using a problem and solution structure this book also sites many wildlife crossings across the world. The beginning of the book shows the animals in their normal habitat and how human roads are a problem for each animal. They also emphasized that cars hitting animals are a danger to humans. I like that this book included some unusual examples like bees and fish crossings. I really liked the colorful illustrations and the back matter has photos of some wildlife crossings and more information.
Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood’s Celebrity Cougar Helped Build a Bridge for City Wildlife
Author: Meeg Pincus Illustrator: Alexander Vidal
Publisher: Beech Lane Books 2021
Where the two previous books looked at many examples of wildlife crossings, Cougar Crossing is the true story of P-22, a mountain lion that miraculously crossed two major highways and ended up living in a park in the city. Mountain lions usually have much larger territories than the park, but P-22 made due and survived. After ending up in a house and getting on the news, attention was brought to the plight of animals trying to navigate highways. Money was raised and a wildlife crossing is being built across the highways in California where P-22 lives. Back matter includes information about California mountain lions over the past twenty years, facts about cougars and general information about crossings.
[…] Other locations provide tunnels under the highways for smaller animals like raccoons, bobcats and tortoises. In jungle areas, ropes or cables across a highway allow tree dwellers. Below are some picture books about wildlife crossings. This link will take you to my reviews: https://angelaturner.org/book-reviews-animals-on-the-move/ […]