Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems - Softcover

Batten, Mary

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1561454508 ISBN 13: 9781561454501

Publisher: Peachtree Pub Co Inc, 2008

Synopsis

ALIENS ARE ON THE MOVE! They spread out underwater, smothering sea plants and destroying fish eggs in the Mediterranean Sea. They multiply and invade wooded areas in Australia and Hawaii, killing off the native flora and fauna. They travel by air, water, boat...even on the shoes and clothes of humans!

Award-winning science writer Mary Batten introduces young readers to the serious and ongoing environmental problems caused by invasive plant and animal species. Citing numerous examples, including the accidental release of the gypsy moth into the United States in 1869 and the deliberate introduction of rabbits to Australia by English settlers, Batten shows how in each case the delicate balance of the local ecosystem is threatened or even destroyed by the foreign intrusion.

At the end of the book, Batten offers readers a glossary and a list of ideas they can use to minimize their own impact on local environments. Artist Beverly Doyle's realistic, full-color illustrations and maps highlight the diversity of the natural world and outline the global routes taken by animal and plant invaders.

About this title

About the Author:

Mary Batten, an award-winning writer for television, film and publishing, was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1 Contact and has written more than fifty nature documentaries for television, including the syndicated series Wild Wild World of Animals. She lives in Virginia.
You can visit Mary Batten's website at: www.marybatten.com

Review:

Gr. 3-5. Animal and plant migrations may not seem to be a fascinating subject. But from the book title and first line of text ("Aliens are everywhere") to the information-packed, full-page color illustrations, this overview of ecological missteps is nonstop intriguing. Batten focuses on what happens when animals and plants migrate or are brought to ecosystems different from their own. Her narrative moves quickly and interestingly from topic to topic, covering everything from conquering armies and settlers carrying animals and plants to their new home to accidents and failed experiments that have brought such scourges as fire ants and gypsy moths to wreak damage on crops and forests. She concludes with a list of suggestions to help children avoid carrying invaders with them as they travel. Lively personal-interest reading, this picture book for older children is fast moving, clear, and well detailed. --Booklist

The familiar starling, gypsy moth, and kudzu vine are all alien to North America, wreaking havoc on established plant and animal ecosystems and threatening biodiversity. This visually striking and readable title describes what happens to ecosystems when alien plants or animals are introduced by accident or intention. The author explains why island environments are especially vulnerable, with examples from Australia, overwhelmed with 500 million rabbits, and Hawaii, where domestic pigs damaged fern ponds producing breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Young readers may be surprised to learn that the gypsy moth was brought to North America to develop a local silk industry and Brazilian beekeepers imported African bees to improve local honeybee stock; both with disastrous results. Some species come as tagalongs: the zebra mussel, clogging the Great Lakes; fire ant, damaging crops and injuring livestock in ten southern states; and caulcrpa algae, destroying sea life in the Mediterranean seabed. The examples throughout are thought-provoking, the illustrations outstanding, and the concluding words on steps to take to keep aliens out are helpful and practical. Doyle, who specializes in environmental art, provides handsome, double-paged portraits of animals both native and new to their natural habitat, using a footnote to clue readers into which are which. Fascinating. --Kirkus

Gr 3-5 This book explains the devastating effects of nonnative plant and animal species on local ecosystems. Battten covers the many different ways that alien invasions can occur, telling the stories of gypsy moths, kudzu, starlings, fire ants, zebra mussels, and many other aggressive invaders. The text ends with steps that readers can take to stop the encroachment of nonnative species. The spreads are beautifully illustrated with animals and plants that almost seem to jump off the pages. Everything depicted is labeled, and a helpful key designates which ones are native, endangered or threatened, alien, or extinct. Because it lacks the navigational tools necessary for locating information such as page numbers or an index, this book will be of limited use to researchers. Visually appealing, it should capture the interest of browsers. --School Library Journal

About this edition

• Publisher: Peachtree Pub Co Inc
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1561454508
• ISBN 13: 9781561454501
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Doyle Beverly J.