The Least of These: Wild Baby Bird Rescue Stories by Joan Harris (1bk)

Harris, Joan. (2005). Illustrated by Joan Harris. The least of these: wild baby bird rescue
Stories. Portland, OR: West Winds Press. 64 pages. ISBN I-55868-860-9

Award: Outstanding Science Trade Books for K-12, 2006

Grade: 4th and up

Credibility of author: The forward of this book was written by Jane Goodall, founder of the Jane Goodall Institute. In the author’s introduction, she states that stories from thirteen wildlife rehabilitation centers, listed underneath each chapter title, make up this book.

Summary: Each chapter in this book tells a story of a real baby bird that was taken in by a rescue and rehabilitation center. It describes where the baby bird is found, how it is lovingly nursed back to health by the staff, and what happens to it at adulthood. There are beautiful, authentic illustrations of each baby bird.

Standards: Life Science IV, Science in Personal and Social VII, Science as Inquiry II: Environment and Ecology

Illustrations: The illustrator worked from photographs of the actual birds using graphite pencil. To add color, she laid a transparent film over the original drawing and brushed on powdered pastels. This technique made the photographs look hand-tinted and have an old-fashioned look.

Access features: Table of Contents, Chapter Titles, Author’s Acknowledgement, Foreward, Introduction, Artist’s Notes, Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Centers List, Glossary

Text Structure: It is a narrative structure with each chapter following a chronological order from bird rescue through rehabilitation.

Tone: Conversational

Voice: The author is conveys her passion about the subject of baby bird rescue.

Clarity and coherence: organized and easy to follow

Use: I would use this book when studying a unit on birds (ornithology). Every year we study birding at the Noxubee Wildlife Refuge and the director of the environmental center does animal rescue work. Also, there is a tree outside my classroom where birds always nest and raise a family. Several times over the years my students and I have rescued baby birds that have fallen out of the nest. This would be a good book to read to the class when this occurs.

Response: I did not realize there were a number of rescue and rehabilitation centers throughout the United States. I enjoyed reading about their efforts to nurse baby birds back to health and release them back into the wild whenever possible. I am a firm believer in reading stories to my students that inspire them to help people, animals, and our environment. This book inspires one to volunteer or “adopt” a baby bird by contributing donations to one of the foundations. In the past, my class has adopted animals from the rain forest, and every year we plan a project to help the local humane society. I plan to research rescue and rehabilitations centers more and introduce a project idea to next year’s class.

Related texts:
One Wing's Gift: Rescuing Alaska's Wild Birds (Harris)