A shout of joy went through the birding community on 5/16/13 when B95 aka Moonbird, the subject of Phillip Hoose’s book Moonbird was spotted again on Delaware Bay. Read about it the Philadelphia Inquirer Blog.
Tag Archives: MOONBIRD Phillip Hoose
Moonbird by Proxy
Marvelous blogger Barb Middleton of Reading Rumpus Book Reviews‘s husband read Moonbird by proxy.
“This expository text is so engaging that I kept spitting out facts to my husband as I was being wowed by this tiny creature that performs feats that don’t seem possible. Did you know that this bird eats 14 times it’s weight and manages to fly? Did you know in 2009 scientists invented geolocators so lightweight and small that they can track bird migration? Did you know that horseshoe crab blood is used to make sure medical equipment is sterilized? Did you know… the poor guy won’t have to read the book after me being a chatterbox of nonstop facts through 120 pages…”
Thanks to Barb for reading and posting such an awesome review and thanks to her husband for getting the B95 report via the “chatterbox.”
Has Moonbird Lived All These Tiring Years?
Thanks Alex and Zack!
Interconnection of Species
Moonbird Photo by Jan van de Kam
We thank the Children’s Literature and Reading Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association for this review sprinkled with all of our favorite key words and phrases related to Moonbird:
act to make a change,
survival,
conservation,
and interconnection of species.
“As he does with every topic he tackles–the ivory-billed woodpecker, civil rights, basketball–Hoose provides interesting details about his topic, and then, provides ways that they can act to make a change. Additionally, the thumbnail sketches of scientists and youngsters who are involved in making sure there is a place for B95 and others of his species answer any questions readers might have as they are reading. Above all, this is a survival story nestled within a story of conservation, one that reminds readers of the interconnection of species…Given the odds against him, how can we not care about the fate of B95 and others like him? Nonfiction doesn’t get better than this.” –International Reading Association
Moonbird Has a Few Stops to Make
MOONBIRD Comic by 3DTOPO Inc.
Moonbird has his own comic! Thank you to 3DTOPO Inc. for taking flight with this fabulous tribute to B95 and the book on the The Hub: Your Connection to Teen Reads. Our thanks to Diane Colson as well for her lovely review!
Photo credits clockwise from top left: American Bird Conservatory; New York Times Green Blog; Scielo.org.; Moonbird cover; Encyclopedia of Life (eol.org);.
Moonbird Takes Wing with Other Finalists
Phillip Hoose is proud to share the honor of Finalist for the 2012 YALSA Excellence in Non-Fiction Award with his fellow Macmillian Children’s authors.
Library Journal’s Best YA
Thank you to Angelina Benedetti for naming Moonbird to the Library Journal’s Best Books 2012: Young Adult Literature for Adults!
Phillip Hoose has always written his books for young adult and older. So, it is particularly honor to be named to the best YA for Adults. And an honor to have such a lovely review from Angelina Benedetti:
“I knew this book as having an impact on me when I caught myself watching shorebirds as I never had before. As he did in The Race To Save the Lord God Bird in 2004, Hoose examines an avian subject in a way that gives the reader new respect. While that book chronicled the tragedy of extinction, in Moonbird, this book uses a single living bird as the lens through which we are introduced to a threatened species. Tagged B95, the “moonbird” is a red knot of the subspecies rufa, a shorebird that annually migrates from South America to the Canadian Arctic; he has flown enough miles in his 20-year lifetime to have gone to the moon and halfway back. His survival is all the more amazing because during his lifetime, his species’ numbers have been reduced by 80 percent owing to human activity. A haunting story of survival against the odds, beautifully illustrated and including profiles of the scientists racing to save this species before it is too late.”
Hey Nemala!
Thank you to Flashlight Press for telling us about the appearance of Hey, Little Ant in an Israeli children’s wildlife magazine called Iton Chai.
“Hey Nemala! is a funny, book that provokes thought through an entertaining discussion between two creatures, large and small. The book encourages children to formulate opinions about animals, peer pressure, and ways to deal with violence. What does the boy decide? To find out, you’ll have to read the book. Amazing illustrations by Debbie Tilley emphasize the conflict between large and small.”
Moonbird at Maine Audubon
Maine Audubon Speaker Series:
Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95
Thursday Dec 6, 2012
7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Gilsland Farm Audubon Center
Free
More info
Newbery Honor and National Book Award–winning Maine author Phillip Hoose tells the extraordinary story of a single bird’s strength, adaptability, and determination in the face of challenges that push his species toward extinction in his new book, Moonbird, A Year On The Wind With The Great Survivor B95.
Moonbird in Her Hands
Biologist Patricia Gonzalez and bander of B95 with a statue of B95 on Delaware Bay
“…holding B95 in my hands several times is among the biggest thrills of my life.”
--Biologist Patricia Gonzalez
It is only fitting that Biologist Patricia Gonzalez, head of the wetlands program, Fundacion Inalafquen, would be the one to spot B95 last May 28. She is perhaps the person who knows him best. She was part of the banding crew who, during a violent hailstorm in Tierra del Fuego way back in 1995, slipped an improvised black band around his lower right leg.
And it was Patricia Gonzalez who, in November, 2001 positioned the orange flag bearing the inscription “B95” to his upper left leg, thus giving him a distinct identity to humans.
And it was Patricia Gonzalez who, in 2007, inserted a thin needle beneath his wing, drawing the small quantity of blood which would determine his gender.
So it is hardly surprising that Patricia Gonzalez would be the one to spot him through a scope and photograph him at Reeds Beach New Jersey, proving that this amazing animal, featured in my book Moonbird, is still with us after a life-span of nearly twenty years. –Phillip Hoose
B95 Photographed by Biologist Patricia Gonzalez on Delaware Bay May 28, 2012
