Fact Friday: Call the Bee Doctor: How Science is Saving Honey Bees by Sandra Markle

Image: Lerner Publishing 

Call the Bee Doctor: How Science is Saving Honey Bees by Sandra Markle. 48 p. Millbrook Press/ Lerner Publishing, October, 2024. Review of copy borrowed from public library. 

Fact Friday features Call the Bee Doctor: How Science is Saving Honey Bees by Sandra Markle. In 2013, veteran science writer, Markle published a book called The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees. In it, she described how the honeybee population was threatened by something called Colony Collapse Disorder. In this update, Ms. Markle describes the work of apiologists, or, bee doctors in their search for a cure of CCD.

The photos are the stars here as they help readers further understand the rather technical prose. The glossary may also be consulted frequently. Ms. Markle details the process of scientific inquiry and highlights the highs and lows. She makes the connection between honeybees and their importance to agriculture and the effect of climate change and use of pesticides on their survival. She might even inspire some middle school students to become apiologists!

In addition to a great glossary, the back matter includes additional sources, making this book a valuable resource for young researchers. Long live the queen!

Fact Friday: The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem by Nancy Castaldo

Image: HarperCollins

The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem by Nancy Castaldo. Photography by Morgan Heim. 96 p. Clarion Books/ HarperCollins Publishers, August, 2022. 9780358274230. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features The Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale: Restoring an Island Ecosystem by Nancy Castaldo. Photographs by Morgan Heim. Ecosystems are fragile. The organisms within it interact and there's balance. When an apex predator is missing, usually due to human intervention, their prey then tend to overpopulate and ruin the plant life. Isle Royale sits in Lake Superior about fifty miles from Michigan. It is one of the least visited National Parks due to its remote location and also the subject of a sixty-year scientific study. The wolf population was decimated by a disease brought by dogs, allowing the moose population to explode and thus, alter the plant life negatively. Scientists have intervened by trying to introduce wolves to the island. Author Castaldo and photographer Heim traveled to the island to interview the scientists involved in this project.

Eighth graders know how much I love the Scientist in the Field series. I teach a seventh grade cycle class about narrative nonfiction that is centered on this series, which covers a lot of curriculum connections from STEM to LA. This addition to the series does not disappoint. The fascinating story is beautifully illustrated with full-color photos of the island and the scientists at work tracking and recording. Back matter includes a glossary, sources and suggestions for further reading.

Wolves and Moose of Isle Royale is a great title for budding naturalists and fans of the U.S. National Parks. I love that cover!

Fact Friday: Follow Those Zebras: Solving a Migration Mystery by Sandra Markle

Happy Friday! Happy Lunar New Year as well! We made it to Friday and our February break! I hope you have big reading plans for break! I have daily book talks scheduled to post, so be sure to check here next week for some ideas of what to read next.

Image: Lerner Publishing Group

Follow Those Zebras: Solving a Migration Mystery by Sandra Markle. 40 p. Millbrook Press/ Lerner Publishing Group, April, 2020. 9781541538375. (Review of finished copy borrowed from public library.)

Fact Friday features Follow Those Zebras: Solving a Migration Mystery by Sandra Markle. Many animals migrate for a variety of reasons. What causes animals, in this case a herd of plains zebras in Namibia and Botswana near the Chobe River, to leave their home and just vanish? Scientist Robin Naidoo and a team of scientists fitted some of the zebras with GPS trackers to find out. They were shocked to discover that the herd travels a record 155 mile to Botswana's Nxai Pan National Park. This distance is record breaking. But why?

Read this fascinating book to find out. The narrative is well-organized and engaging. Each page features one or more full-color pictures of the herd, individual zebras and the scientists at work as well as maps and helpful sidebars. The book is beautifully designed. Useful back matter provides a glossary and points budding conservationists to other sources for further reading. Follow Those Zebras is a sturdy addition to Ms. Markle's Science Discovery series.