The Last Has Passed

It's hard to wrap your mind around the number of species on the critically endangered list.  According to the website, ARKive, they currently are highlighting 1,828 plants and animals. At the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species 4,286 names are given as critically endangered.  When we lose even one, we are much less than we were.

My interest in the Galapagos Islands was initially peaked when reading Island: A Story of the Galapagos (Roaring Brook Press, A Neal Porter Book) written and illustrated by Jason Chin.  My fascination is even stronger after reading about one particular resident in the final collaboration (in person) between author Jean Craighead George and illustrator Wendell Minor.  Galapagos George (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers) takes us back in time nearly one million years ago.

This is a story that took so long to happen that only the stars were present at the beginning and at the end.

It begins in South America with a giant female tortoise, Giantess George.  She is witness to numerous changes in the land around her including a huge storm, causing the water to rise and fall sweeping her and other animals out to sea.  Fortunately she and those like her were able to float on trees also swept off the island.

Did you know a tortoise like Giantess George could live for a year without food or water?  She survived, landing on an island six hundred miles from her original home.  This is one of those incredible miracles of the natural world.  She lived there as she had in South America, laying eggs...big eggs.

Her body adapted to the location of her vegetarian-style food, her neck growing longer and her shell's shape altering. Over time her children, their children and those which followed continued to acclimate themselves to their landscape.  Other islands in the group each had special tortoises specific to their island alone.

When people began to arrive in the early 1500s the population of tortoises was drastically reduced by more than one hundred thousand.  With the arrival of Charles Darwin to the islands a theory was put in place as to the different tortoises on each island, a specific kind of evolution.  People introduced other species on the islands which further harmed the tortoise numbers.

There came a day when only one descendant of Giantess George was left.  For his protection sometime in the early 1970s he was removed from Pinta Island and taken to the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz Island.  On June 24, 2012 Lonesome George (the name given him by the scientists) passed away after pulling his head into his shell and putting up his knees the previous afternoon.  He was more than one hundred years old, living proof of the wonders surrounding us every day.


When I read books researched and written by Jean Craighead George, whether they are fiction or nonfiction, I feel much closer to understanding our planet and its inhabitants.  In this particular title she condenses a vast amount of material into a narrative understandable by younger readers.  She provides enough information but in the presentation she somehow encourages us to seek out more.  Her zest for discovery, her unquenchable curiosity, is being ignited in each and every reader.


Using photographs taken by Jean Craighead George on her trip to the Galapagos Islands as well as pictures from photographer friends who also visited the islands, Wendell Minor works his magic with Windsor and Newton Watercolors on archival 3-ply Strathmore Bristol paper.  On the matching dust jacket and book case he showcases Galapagos George on the front with an oval portrait of Giantess George on the back.  His opening and closing endpapers feature a map of the islands, native animals, Galapagos George, a small landscape of the island and two other maps giving the reader perspective as to the islands' placement on a larger scale.

His luminous paintings (How does he get the light perfectly?) give the reader a true sense of time and place.  Intricate details using tiny, delicate brushstrokes transform his double-page, single page and smaller illustrations into pictures asking you to pause and appreciate.  You develop a kinship with those tortoises, especially Galapagos George.  In an email earlier today I mentioned his books are like mini art galleries.  His reply to me is:

I, too, often refer to my books as mobile mini art galleries! Knowing that many children live in areas that do not have easy access to museums or galleries, it is my hope that my art will inspire their future interest in visiting museums and galleries to view original works of art.

Two of my favorite illustrations are of Giantess George as she is reaching for leaves for the first time and of Galapagos George in his home on Santa Cruz Island.  I like that Minor has placed the same type of bird perched on both of their shells.  It's a splendid reminder of the ties the two tortoises shared.

Jean Craighead George and Wendell Minor have made another beautiful, informative book together in Galapagos George.  After I read it a second time I started to explore the key terms, timeline, books and online resources included at the back of this title.  Just as Jean Craighead George would have wished I got caught up in the extended story of Galapagos George.  Be sure to read the In Remembrance paragraph written by Twig George, Jean's daughter.  I like to think that somewhere a very special tortoise might be spending time walking with an extraordinary woman.

Please follow the links embedded in the author's and illustrator's names to their official websites.  If you follow this link to the publisher's website you can see some interior illustrations.


I look forward to Wednesday each week, happy to be participating in the 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted at Kid Lit Frenzy by Alyson Beecher.

Soaring The Skies...

Without fail their very presence gives one pause.  Gliding through the air without a sound or sitting in a tree or nest like a silent sentinel, they are the essence of royalty.  With a wing span between six and eight feet, the bald eagle is one of nature's most impressive creatures.

We nearly lost all this beauty.  Thankfully for now and future generations there were people who recognized the dangers; doing what they could to save this magnificent bird.  In The Eagles Are Back (Dial Books for Young Readers) written by the late Jean Craighead George with paintings by Wendell Minor, readers follow the efforts of one boy; seeing the difference a single individual can make.


Years ago a boy climbed to an eagle nest in an old tree by a remote lake.

He is worried about two adult bald eagles he has named Uncle Sam and First Lady; not having seen them for some time.  As he peers down into the nest he sees two crushed eggs.

The boy knows his friend the ranger is worried about their diminishing numbers.  The boy knows when the bald eagle was chosen as our national bird there were a half a million populating this great nation; a huge part of an ecological food chain.  Now there are only 450 pairs left.

Hunters, loss of habitat and the use of DDT (since banned) are all contributing factors.  Not having eaglets to watch this year will be strange.  Two things happen to the boy as he is leaving the forest; Uncle Sam swoops down to get a fish and his friend, the ranger, has a special treasure to show him.

Another ranger in Alaska sent him an eagle egg. He is hoping Uncle Sam and First Lady will adopt it. In order for this to work though the boy's help is necessary.  Called to duty in another park the ranger asks the boy to watch the nest.

If the pair of eagles do not return to the nest within four days, the boy's duties will no longer be needed. Day one, he whistles. They do not come. Day two, he whistles. They do not come.

On the third day the boy calls to them all day until the sun is setting.  Without warning they suddenly appear, flying to the nest.  The boy watches as first Uncle Sam, then First Lady take a turn sitting on the egg.  They've made the egg their own.

Waiting and watching, watching and waiting, the boy helps as he best knows how. A egg, a pair of bald eagles, two park rangers and this boy turn hope into reality, so that some day a father can bring his son to see more than thirty eagles.  The skies never looked so good.


Over the years reading the works of Jean Craighead George one can't help but fall under the spell of her words; words taking us deep into the natural world, giving us a great respect and appreciation for those creatures sharing our planet.  She informs by weaving what is known to be true into her narratives as well as inviting us to look further, igniting an interest.  In this particular title I was curious to know how close to the truth the story was, so I sent an email to her friend of twenty-two years and collaborator, Wendell Minor.

Mr. Minor's response was:

Jean Craighead George's older twin brothers, John and Frank, were the first raptor keepers in the United States, and were indeed involved in saving eagles.  "The Eagles Are Back" is based on their endeavors, but is told through the fictional character of a young boy."

In the conversation of this email he also informed me there will be one more title released in 2014 illuminating their shared talents, Galapagos George.  He closed the email with good news just received this week about Jean Craighead George.







Wendell Minor welcomes readers to this title with his matching jacket and cover  rendered (as are all the paintings) using

Winsor & Newton designer's gouache and watercolor with pencil on Strathmore 500 bristol board

in rich, warm colors.  The back illustration is taken from within the body of the work; the boy is tossing a fish he caught to the eagle to feed the eaglet.  A close up of an eagle in flight spans the title page followed by the verso and dedication with a two page panoramic view of a valley overlooked by the eagle pair.

Minor alternates his painting sizes as a reflection of the text.  All of the double and single page spreads go edge to edge to give the reader a sense of wonder but also an intimacy with the story.  When text appears opposite a one page illustration a wide border is formed with a fine golden line; each of these pages featuring a smaller inset painting.  His perspective, lines, and brush strokes combine to create a living breathing texture; a truly realistic rendition.


The Eagles Are Back by Jean Craighead George with paintings by Wendell Minor portrays the importance, the beautiful unbroken chain, that was and needs to be protected and preserved.  It is meant to and can be enjoyed by all ages.  Please visit the author and illustrator websites via the links embedded in their names.

An illustrator's note on the verso explains the research process Wendell Minor used prior to beginning his paintings. There is a short bibliography of websites on bald eagles at the conclusion of the book.  Mr. Minor and his wife, Florence, were gracious enough to include two additional images in their emails which are shown below.