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Gopher to the Rescue!


by Terry Catasus Jennings

Price at time of review: $9.95
32 pp.
Sylvan Dell Publishing
Mount Pleasant, SC
2012
ISBN: 9781607181415

Grade Level: K-2
Reviewed by CBC Reviewer
N/A

The importance of a keystone species in the maintenance and restoration of habitat is illustrated for the youngest naturalists in this story. This picture book is based on observations of succession after the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens. Gopher survives in its underground burrow and then gets to work, digging through the ash, and mixing it into the soil below. The gopher's role in providing microhabitats and maintaining soil becomes clear in this personalized story that never misses the science.

This NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book makes a true historical and scientific event of a volcanic eruption and the years of habitat recovery interesting for elementary children. While "gopher" takes on a personality, its behavior is never unscientific. Students who follow gopher's tale will be better observers of the gophers, tortoises, moles, and other burrowers in their own neighborhood.

Review posted on 1/22/2013

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