Slow Down for Manatees

This book is about a Manatee who is hit by a boat and is rescued by some divers and taken to an aquarium where she heals and gives birth to her calf. Soon after she is let go back to the wild. This is a good book to use in science when it becomes Manatee season in florida.

When a slow-moving manatee, basking in the sunlight of a shallow canal, is struck by a passing motorboat, the gentle "sea cow" is terribly injured, and drifts with the tide until a group of fisherman rescue her and take her to a local aquarium to be nursed back to health. There it is discovered

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that the manatee is pregnant, and, while she is still recovering, her calf in born. As both mother and child grow strong and whole, the aquarium staff work to return them to the wild...

A prolific children's author who is known for his natural history titles for younger readers, Jim Arnosky turns to one of my favorite aquatic species in Slow Down for Manatees, which combines an engaging story with appealing illustrations, and is apparently based upon a true story of a rescued manatee who turned out to be pregnant. Of course, as an admitted manatee lover (one day I will see one in person, but not, I hope, in captivity), Arnosky would have had to do something extraordinarily irritating for me not to like this book! That said, I appreciated the fact that he set out the prime (really, the only) danger to this wonderful species - ie: human activity - but also highlighted the many people, including boaters, who are determined to protect and aid them. Recommended to all young animal and ocean lovers, particularly those with a fondness for these gentle creatures!

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