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You may remember I wrote about The Truth of Crocodiles last week? Today I have The Truth about Hawks to share with you. Maxwell Eaton has again created a fascinating, humour-filled book.
What I am Reviewing
The Truth About Hawks.
Maxwell Eaton III (author and illustrator)
Roaring Brook Press.
40 pages, ages 4-8, grades 1-2.
Picture book, hawks, birds, humour, children,
Series: The Truth about Your Favourite Animals.
Book Six.
Reviewed for: Raincoast Books.
Maxwell Eaton III’s The Truth About Hawks is part of his illustrated nonfiction series continuing to enlighten and delight readers. Filled with useful facts about hawks that will make you laugh so hard you won’t even realize you’re learning something!
Did you know that hawks can see four to eight times better than a human?
How about that some hawks even eat other types of birds?
Did you know that hawks use ultra-violet light to find their prey?
Discover these facts and more in this new addition to the popular series that combines raucous amounts of humor with a surprising amount of information on beloved animal friends.
The Details
Bright colourful images fill the pages of this picture book. The natural colours of these magnificent birds are brought into sharp relief.
Scattered throughout the pages is humour. When we are told that golden eagles knock Dall sheep off mountain tops, and then we see Dall sheep taking parachutes off the cliff with looks and expressions of glee. It’s funny! (at least I know it would be for kids right?) 🙂
We are introduced to a variety of raptors some of which are golden eagle, vultures, snail kites, bald eagles, and red-tailed hawks. We learn about mating habits, child rearing, food requirements, migration and threats to their existence. Mr. Eaton lightly touches on all these areas and more.
My Thoughts
As much as I like this book I am bothered by eagles, owls etc being called hawks. They are birds of prey, and given the birds discussed in the book a better title would be “The Truth about Raptors”. Even with littles, being more accurate is better than being less accurate.
That said… would I want people to read this book? YES! Learning about these magnificent birds is important. Helping to conserve them means learning about who they are, where they live, what threats they face and everything we can. Maxwell Eaton does a marvellous job of doing that with a sense of style and well-played humour.
What an interesting and exciting book. Miss J would sure enjoy it. Her interest in birds is still going strong!
it was overall well-done. Maybe i’ll find a way to send it to you. 🙂