From the award-winning authors of Beauty and the Beak, Deborah Lee
Rose and Jane Veltkamp once again combine a dramatic story of raptor
rescue with the science it takes to make it happen in this heartwarming
and informative STEM picture book.
Young readers will cheer for the osprey adoption to be successful and
see up close what it takes to help these beautiful birds have another
chance in the wild. Expansive back matter includes detailed information
on ospreys and their lifecycle, diet, nests, and behavior, plus how they
got on the endangered species list, environmental challenges they face
today, the tools raptor scientists use to do their work to protect them,
and more!
The story begins with Swoop and Soar, two baby osprey chicks only ten
days old, safe in their nest at the top of the forest...until a powerful
storm sends their tree crashing to the ground, their nest shattered
amidst thunder and lightning. Swoop and Soar is the true story of
how science found these two orphan chicks a new osprey family and home
in the wild. Raptor biologist Janie Veltkamp, who rescued Beauty the
bald eagle, helps save the young osprey chicks and sets out to find them
a new family. In a race against time, Janie finds the perfect new nest
for the chicks, with wild osprey parents who have also lost chicks to
the storm. But will the new parents accept Swoop and Soar as their own,
or soon fly away from the nest forever?
After quickly nursing the baby brother and sister back to health, Janie
carefully places them in the new nest while the osprey parents are out
hunting for fish. Then Janie waits, watches and hopes. The new father
brings back a fresh fish, but four long hours go by until the mother
lands at the nest. Will she feed Swoop and Soar, and shade them from the
Sun's burning rays with her outstretched wings? Can the chicks and their
new osprey parents now become a real family?
