Joan Procter, Dragon Doctor

Alfred A. Knopf
(pub. 3.13.2018) 
40 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Patricia Valdez
     Illustrator: Felicita Sala

C haracter: Joan Procter

O verview from the jacket flap: 
     "When Joan Procter was a little girl, she invited the most unusual guests to her tea parties. Instead of dolls and princesses, Joan liked to spend time with her pet lizards. Captivated by them, as well as by snakes, turtles, and even crocodiles, Joan knew that one day she would help care for the creatures she loved.

      When Joan grew up, her passion took her to London's Natural History Museum and the London Zoo, where she became the first female curator at the Reptile House. Joan worked with even the most fearsome Komodo dragon, and helped visitors understand the beauty of the animals she oversaw.

    In this celebration of Joan's life and work, Patricia Valdez and Felicita Sala tell the story of a trailblazing woman of science, who was an international sensation in her time and whose legacy paved the way for female zoologists around the world."

T antalizing taste: 
      "Although the visitors were thrilled, Joan was concerned. One of the Komodo dragons, Sumbawa, did not look well.

     To the shock of the zoo guests, Joan entered the enclosure.

     She moved Sumbawa to the reptile clinic with the help of six nervous keepers.

     The dragon let Joan clean a sore in his mouth with no fuss at all.  In fact, he thanked Joan by licking her face.

     Joan thought Sumbawa was brave.

    The keepers thought Joan was brave."

    
and something more: In the  back matter of JOAN PROCTER, DRAGON DOCTOR, the author, Patricia Valdez, explains: "Joan presented her observations of Komodo dragons at the Scientific Meeting of the Zoological Society of London on October 23, 1928. Sumbawa accompanied her and walked freely through the audience during their presentation.
     Joan's chronic health problems began to worsen at this time.  She was in pain most days, but she managed to keep up with the daily activities of the Reptile House.  At age thirty-four, Joan passed away in her sleep due to complications from her chronic illness. Until the end of her life, visitors to the zoo often saw Joan riding in her wheelchair while Sumbawa walked alongside her.
    And to this day, if you visit the London Zoo, just inside the Reptile House, you'll find a marble bust of Joan, keeping watch over all the creatures inside."

A Splash of Red

The Life and Art of Horace Pippin

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday

hosted today by Wrapped In Foil

and joins It's Monday!

What are you reading?

at Teacher Mentor Texts

Alfred A. Knopf/ Random House

(pub. 1.8.2013) 40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Jen Bryant

     and Illustrator: Melissa Sweet

C haracter: Horace Pippin

O verview from the publisher: 

     "As a child in the late 1800s, Horace Pippin loved to draw...He drew pictures for his sisters, his classmates, his co-workers. Even during W.W.I, Horace filled his notebooks with drawings from the trenches . . . until he was shot. Upon his return home, Horace couldn't lift his right arm, and couldn't make any art. Slowly, with lots of practice, he regained use of his arm, until once again, he was able to paint--and paint, and paint! Soon, people—including the famous painter N. C. Wyeth—started noticing Horace's art, and before long, his paintings were displayed in galleries and museums across the country..."

        

T antalizing taste: 

         "Then, if he could find a scrap of paper and a piece of charcoal, he drew pictures of what he'd seen that day.
        Horace loved to draw. He loved the feel of the charcoal as it slid across the floor. He loved looking at something in the room and making it come alive in front of him. He loved thinking about a friend or a pet, then drawing them from the picture in his mind."

                       

and something more: I was intrigued to read the collaborative efforts behind A Splash of Red. Melissa Sweet recounts the background in her Illustrator's Note: "Typically, authors and illustrators stay fairly separate when making a picture book, but after Jen [Bryant] wrote this text, we bucked the tide by researching Horace Pippin together. Driving through the back roads of eastern Pennsylvania, we shared what we both knew and loved about art and Pippin." 
          And, as Jen Bryant explains in her Author's Note: ".... once the story was written, Melissa and I retraced many of these paths [of her earlier research] and forged some new ones. We were inspired and amazed by the very real struggles in Horace Pippin's life and the incredible, simple elegance of his work. Through his art, he transcended personal loss, injury, poverty, violence, and racism, producing a body of work that remains wholly original and deeply American"... AND inspiring!

Mrs. Harkness and the Panda

This post is part of Nonfiction Monday 

hosted today by Capstone Connect

Alfred A. Knopf (Random House Children's Books)

(pub. 3.13.2012)  40 pages 

A True Tale with A Cherry On Top

A uthor: Alicia Potter

     and Illustrator:  Melissa Sweet

C haracter:  Ruth Harkness

O verview from the publisher: 

     In 1934, Ruth Harkness had never seen a panda bear. Not many people in the world had.
     But soon the young Mrs. Harkness would inherit an expedition from her explorer husband: the hunt for a panda. She knew that bringing back a panda would be hard. Impossible, even. But she intended to try.
     So she went to China, where she found a guide, built traps, gathered supplies, and had explorers' clothes made—unheard of for a woman in those days.  Then she set out up the Yangtze River and into the wilderness.  What she discovered would awe America: an adorable baby panda she named Su Lin, which means "a little bit of something very cute."
      With breathtaking illustrations from Caldecott Honor artist Melissa Sweet, this little-known true story shares the tale of an adventurous woman who was bold and brave—and the unforgettable journey that helped shape American attitudes toward wildlife.

T antalizing taste: 

       "Mrs. Harkness wanted to go with him. But women were considered too dainty for exploring. Still, she hoped to join Mr. Harkness at the end of the expedition. An adventure together!
       Many months passed. Then, on a winter afternoon, Mrs. Harkness received terrible news. Her husband had died in China. Mrs. Harkness was very sad. She had loved him so.
       That love inspired her to carry on with his work.
       Mrs. Harkness would go to China.  She would find the panda."

and something more:   I liked that the Author's Note in Mrs. Harkness and the Panda discussed the "question [of] whether it was right to take a baby panda from the wild. Our attitudes about animal conservation and zoos, as well as our knowledge of pandas' behavior, are much different than they were in the 1930s. Back then, before the advent of television and widespread commercial air travel, zoos were the primary way for people, including scientists to learn about and appreciate animals - particularly rare or unusual species.
       But even today, many conservationists admire Harkness's contribution to zoology. In bringing Su Lin to America, Harkness introduced the world to a tubby, bamboo-chomping ambassador. After Su Lin, the race to kill pandas for sport eventually lost much of its appeal. Instead, people rooted for their survival."  
      The concept of Su Lin as an "ambassador" for his species reminds me of my experience with my nonfiction picture book, Astro the Steller Sea Lion.  As I wrote in a piece for Children's Literature Network:  "At a book talk last year, I had the opportunity to introduce the incredible children’s book author and environmentalist, T.A. Barron, and share my book with him. He said it’s as if Astro is 'an ambassador for his species now.'  And that’s truly what he seems to be.  People have learned not only about Astro, but also about Steller sea lions, an endangered species, and the need to protect their habitat and limit commercial fishing."  And that makes me very pleased -- the idea of Astro the Ambassador.