Raptor Rescue!: An Eagle Flies Free

A visit to the University of Minnesota's Gabbert Raptor Center focuses on a bald eagle, from its arrival with a gunshot wound through surgery, rehabilitation, and release, and discusses the threats to these majestic birds.

Grade 3-7-Patient S-137 at the Gabbert Raptor Center (TRC) in St. Paul, Minnesota, is a bald eagle with a gunshot wound. The bird's treatment and recovery are the framework upon which Johnson builds two connected stories. One is about raptors: what they are, how they live, and why they are threatened. The other takes readers to TRC for a first-hand look at wildlife rescue, rehabilitation, and release. Clear and informative full-color photographs allow readers to follow veterinarians and volunteers into surgery, flight rooms, the kitchen, and eventually outside as recovering birds regain their strength. Education is part of the TRC mission and the public celebration of the release of S-137 and seven other rehabilitated raptors is colorful and compelling. Though this volume is not as detailed or dramatic as Jennifer Dewey's Wildlife Rescue (Boyds Mills, 1994), it is an exciting look at a field that is, sadly, growing as humans continue to encroach on the habitats of wildlife.
Susan Oliver, Hillsborough County Science Library at MOSI, Tampa, FL
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3^-5. Combining the appeal of an animal book, a veterinary career book, and a conservation book, this focuses on the work of the Gabbert Raptor Center in Minnesota. Johnson follows an injured bald eagle through the healing process, weaving in information on other varieties of raptors, including hawks and vultures. She concludes with the eagle's ceremonial release, suggestions of things children can do to help raptors, and some quick facts about the birds. From the opening photo picturing a vet checking the eagle's X ray to the final shot showing the bird's release, the book is mesmerizing. The many full-color photos of other raptors are equally close and sharply detailed, and the cover photo, showing a bald eagle taking off, will send the book flying off the shelves. Susan Dove Lempke