Susannah Buhrman-Deever, a biologist with a Ph.D. in animal
behavior, is the author of Predator and Prey. In addition to
her academic work and writing, she has developed inquiry-based
ecology curricula for children. Susannah Buhrman-Deever lives with
her family in upstate New York.
Matthew Trueman is the illustrator of several books for
children, including In the Past by David Elliott, Hippos
Are Huge!by Jonathan London, and One Beetle Too Many by
Kathryn Lasky. He lives in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.
Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family
threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered
person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance.
"People do not always understand at first the changes they cause
when they take too much." Sea urchins take over; a page turn
reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when
hunting stops and the otters return...and with them, the kelp
forests. A simple but effective look at a keystone species.
-Kirkus Reviews
Seaweed, snails, shrimp, fish, eagles, and the "kings of these
forests"-sea otters-make up this ecosystem's food web. Facts about
each species wind through the illustrations, which portray adorable
(somewhat anthropomorphized) otters in a peaceful ocean
environment. But, as Buhrman-Deever warns, this wasn't always the
case...The disequilibrium is portrayed dramatically in Trueman's
gauzy underwater illustrations.
-The Horn Book
The luminous illustrations and clear text help young readers
understand the causes and effects of the otter fur trade. The
book's large type will appeal to younger readers. Facts printed in
small type are suited for experienced readers...A solid purchase
for all public and elementary school libraries.
-School Library Journal
Buhrman-Deever explains how, starting in the 1700s, Russian
explorers in Alaska nearly drove the otter to extinction through
hunting for the international fur trade. Her vivid descriptions
relate the devastating consequences on the ocean forest until a
1911 treaty protected the remaining otters. While larger text tells
the story and smaller text adds important details, blue- and
green-hued illustrations resembling watercolors highlight the
habitat's richness.
-Booklist
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