The Horn Book Guide

SCIENCE

Swinburne, Stephen R.

Saving Manatees

40 pp. | Boyds | October, 2006 | Trade ISBN 1-59078-319-0 $16.95

(3) 4-6 Close-up underwater photos, a breezy, first-person narrative, and well-chosen historical and scientific facts draw readers into this captivating look at the curious marine mammal that resembles "an eggplant with chin and whiskers." Readers tag along as Swinburne follows a manatee vet, observes a necropsy (scientific examination of dead animals), and snorkels with excited fourth-graders who encounter manatees in their natural habitat. Reading list, websites. Ind.

Reviewer: Paula M. Cairo