Build, Beaver, Build!: Life at the Longest Beaver Dam

Markle, Sandra

ISBN 10: 1467749001 ISBN 13: 9781467749008

Publisher: Millbrook Press ™, 2016

Synopsis

The first year of a beaver kit's life is full of new discoveries and dangers. But the most important lesson the kit learns is how to take care of his family's home. The lodge where he lives is protected by a long dam that many beavers have worked to build over the years. As the kit grows up, he helps repair and add to the family dam―and begins to build a life for himself.

Set at what is believed to be the world's longest beaver dam, Build, Beaver, Build―by award-winning author Sandra Markle―provides a glimpse of beaver life, seen through the eyes of one young beaver and his family.

About this title

About the Author:

Sandra Markle is the author of numerous award-winning books for children. A former elementary science teacher, she is a nationally-known science education consultant.

Markle has received many honors for her series Animal Predators, Animal Scavengers, and Animal Prey. Several titles have been named as National Science Teachers Association (NSTA)/Children’s Book Council (CBC) Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K-12, and Animal Predators was honored as a Top 10 Youth Nonfiction Series by Booklist.

Markle is also the author of the Insect World series and several single titles. Her book Rescues! was named a Best Book by the Society of School Librarians International and a Recommended Title of Outstanding Nonfiction by the National Council of Teachers of English’s (NCTE) Orbis Pictus Award committee; Animal Heroes was named a 2008 Lasting Connections title by Book Links.

Markle lives in Lakewood Ranch, Florida with her husband, photographer Skip Jeffery.

Deborah Hocking was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. In college she studied painting, illustration, graphic design, and Spanish. Her heart lies in forest exploration, mountain lake swimming, and bramble fort building. Build, Beaver, Build! is her first picture book.

Review:

"One June night, a 'softball-sized' beaver kit is swimming across the pond to his mother when an owl swoops down toward him. The three-week-old kit dives, paddling underwater into the entrance tunnel to his family's lodge. As he and his sisters grow up, they learn to gather sticks, repair the lodge and dam, defend themselves against predators, and add to the family's winter food supply, stored near the lodge entrances. The following spring, they become 'babysitters in training' as well as dam builders, preparing them to raise their own families someday. A nip from a Canada goose and a narrow escape from a coyote add additional drama to the young beaver's story, but the information in Markle's simply written text is pretty engaging in itself. Nicely composed, the lively illustrations include many night scenes. One very effective picture shows a cross-section of the beaver lodge, its upper part covered with snow and its lower part submerged in water, with the kit emerging from the tunnel into the pond. A satisfying picture book for junior naturalists."―Booklist Online

(Website)

"An exciting introduction to these semiaquatic animals. Readers follow a young beaver kit over the course of a year as he and his family find food, ward off predators, and continue to build their dam and lodge. Short paragraphs lend themselves to being read aloud, and the narrative will hold kids' attention. However, the details and vocabulary found in other animal texts are lacking here; report writers will need to look elsewhere for general facts. Hocking's intricate and beautiful full-spread watercolors greatly enhance the text. VERDICT: A solid supplemental purchase."―School Library Journal

(Journal)

About this edition

• Publisher: Millbrook Press ™
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1467749001
• ISBN 13: 9781467749008
• Binding: Library Binding
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Hocking Deborah