Pandas' Earthquake Escape (Arbordale Collection) - Hardcover

Phyllis J. Perry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1607180715 ISBN 13: 9781607180715

Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing, 2010

Synopsis

Pandas' Earthquake Escape is a fictional story based on a real-life event. In real life, XiXi, a giant panda did escape from the destroyed Wolong Panda Reserve when the 7.9 earthquake rocked Northern China on May 12, 2008. Author Phyllis Perry uses the adventures of a mother panda, LiLing, and her one-year old cub, Tengfei, to teach children about earthquakes, animal survival, and to reinforce a mother s instinct to protect her child. After the quake, mother and cub run from the wreckage. Confused and afraid, they get lost! How will they survive outside their reserve? Will they find food? Will they find shelter? And will they safely endure the earthquake after-shocks? The For Creative Minds educational section includes: Endangered Giant Pandas Life Cycle Sequencing Activity; Giant Panda Fun Facts; Shake, Rattle & Roll Earthquakes The Richter Scale and Magnitude Ranges; and Where in the World? Earthquake Chart & Map.

About this title

About the Author

Phyllis J. Perry is the author of more than 70 books of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction for children and adults. Phyllis worked with the Boulder, Colorado, Valley Schools as a teacher, principal, curriculum specialist, and director of talented and gifted education before taking early retirement to write full time. She is active in a number of writing-related organizations. She is a member of the Colorado Authors' League and of the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. She participates in the Colorado Council of the International Reading Association and lives in Boulder with her husband, David. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. Susan Detwiler is the illustrator of several books for children including The First Teddy Bear and The Wonderful Bicycle Parade. She is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators. Her illustrations have appeared in the children's magazines, Highlights For Children and Ladybug. Susan's artwork has also been used for puzzles, games, and more than one hundred greeting cards. Books have always been a source of joy in her life, and as a child, she particularly loved books with beautiful illustrations. Susan lives in Maryland and received her education at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore.

From the Back Cover

Pandas' Earthquake Escape is a fictional story based on a real-life event. In real life, XiXi, a giant panda did escape from the destroyed Wolong Panda Reserve when the 7.9 earthquake rocked Northern China on May 12, 2008. Author Phyllis Perry uses the adventures of a mother panda, LiLing, and her one-year old cub, Tengfei, to teach children about earthquakes, animal survival, and to reinforce a mother s instinct to protect her child. After the quake, mother and cub run from the wreckage. Confused and afraid, they get lost! How will they survive outside their reserve? Will they find food? Will they find shelter? And will they safely endure the earthquake after-shocks? The For Creative Minds education section includes: Endangered Giant Pandas, Life Cycle Sequencing Activity, Giant Panda Fun Facts, Shake, Rattle & Roll Earthquakes, The Richter Scale and Magnitude Ranges, and Where in the World? Earthquake Chart & Map. Additional free teaching activities and interactive quizzes are available at the Sylvan Dell Publishing website. Ready, Set, Wait!

From the Inside Flap

After a devastating earthquake, mother and baby giant panda run from the wreckage of their reserve only to get lost. Will they ever find their way home again?

Reviews

PreSchool-Grade 2—This suspenseful, fictionalized picture book is based on a 2008 earthquake in Northern China. When the wall of a nature reserve enclosure tumbles during a quake, a frightened giant panda and her cub, Tengfei, run away. Liling seeks safety, and the two spend the night in a shallow cave. The next day mother and cub explore their surroundings, searching for a way home. The pandas are suddenly shot with medicated darts, and humans return the pair to the reserve. Perry quickly draws readers into this well-told story. It is an interesting and rare look at how animals are affected by natural disasters. Detwiler's painterly spreads, rich in deep greens and browns, show a lifelike Liling and Tengfei. Like a panda's fur, two colors, white and black, are used for the type. A "Creative Minds" section supplements the tale with material on earthquakes, the Richter scale, and pandas. Perry's story can stand alone without the extras, but teachers needing lesson-plan material will find the back matter helpful. For a look at a panda cub's first year of life, pair this book with Caroline Arnold's A Panda's World (Picture Window, 2006). A worthy, informative picture book.—Lynn K. Vanca, Akron-Summit County Public Library, Richfield, OH
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In 2008, an earthquake in northern China destroyed the Wolong Panda Reserve. Inspired by this devastating, real-life event, this picture book tells the story of a mother panda and her cub that are shaken from the trees in a nature reserve when an earthquake hits. Frightened but unharmed, the animals flee across a paved road and into a neighboring forest, “farther and farther away from their home.” After surviving on roots and stream water, mother and child are rescued by wildlife workers, who sedate the pair with darts that deliver “medicine to put both giant pandas to sleep” and return them to their protected home at the reserve. The human figures in the softly textured pastel illustrations have a somewhat stilted quality, but children will easily connect with the animals' fear and relief, conveyed in their expressive faces. Concluding spreads offer curriculum links with facts and activities focused on both giant pandas and earthquakes. Pair this with Sandra Markle's Finding Home (2008) for another conservation story about how humans can help animals displaced by natural disaster. Preschool-Grade 2. --Gillian Engberg

Edition details

• Publisher: Sylvan Dell Publishing
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1607180715
• ISBN 13: 9781607180715
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Susan Detwiler
• Number of pages: 32