Arrowhawk: A True Survival Story - Hardcover

Gabi Swiatkowska

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805063714 ISBN 13: 9780805063714

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2004

Synopsis

Familiar hands tossed him gently into the winter air. Hawk flapped his wings and skimmed the earth. Then he beat his wings harder, rose, and flew over the trees. And straight as an arrow, Hawk soared into the wild.

The story of an injured red-tailed hawk's survival and freedom

A hungry red-tailed hawk sits near a fence post and devours his catch. Out of nowhere a poacher's arrow pierces his body, seriously injuring him and leaving him to fend for himself.

This is the courageous true story of Arrowhawk-an endangered bird of prey who, with sheer determination and will, survives eight weeks in the wild with a poacher's arrow through his thigh and tail. Stunning illustrations capture his remarkable journey from peril and rescue to eventual freedom.

Arrowhawk is a 2005 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

About this title

About the Author:

LOLA M. SCHAEFER is the author of several acclaimed books for children, including This Is the Sunflower and This Is the Rain. In 1997, she and her fourth-grade students followed the Michigan and Indiana news releases of a red-tailed hawk injured by a poacher's arrow. Impassioned by the bird's will to survive, Ms. Schaefer was determined to share his amazing story with children. She lives with her family in Garrett, Indiana.

GABI SWIATKOWSKA is the illustrator of My Name Is Yoon and Hannah's Bookmobile Christmas, which Booklist praised as "beautiful" and "atmospheric." A freelance artist who studied painting at the Liceum of Art in Bielsko, Poland, and a former preschool teacher, Ms. Swiatkowska lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York.

From Booklist:

Gr. 2-3, younger for reading aloud. In 1997, a young red-tailed hawk was hit by a poacher's arrow, survived for some time, was captured, cared for, and released in the Midwest. Schaefer, whose fourth-graders followed the news stories about the hawk, has turned this event into a picture book for older readers. By taking the point of view of the hawk, she has anthropomorphized the raptor in ways that sometimes seem stilted. Children may be mesmerized, though, by the hawk's efforts to fly, and to capture prey and feed, with an arrow piercing its thigh and tail. The capture and healing of the bird are handled gently, and the story ends with its release to the wild. Swiatkowska's rich acrylics have beautiful soft edges and fine detail, demonstrating the hawk in many guises as it struggles to do what a raptor's gotta do despite the protruding arrow. The photograph of Arrowhawk at the end shows how elegantly the artist captured the contours and coloration of the hawk. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0805063714
• ISBN 13: 9780805063714
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Schaefer Lola M.