Blog: #kidlit Book of the Day - Page 1321 of 1474

The Tragic Tale of the Great Auk
by Jan Thornhill (Author / Illustrator)

Booktalk: For hundreds of thousands of years Great Auks thrived in the icy seas of the North Atlantic, bobbing on the waves, diving for fish and struggling up onto rocky shores to mate and hatch their fluffy chicks. But by 1844, not a single one of these magnificent birds was alive.

Great Auks were pursued first by Vikings, then by Inuit, Beothuk and finally European hunters. Their numbers rapidly dwindled. They became collectors’ items — their skins were stuffed for museums, to be displayed along with their beautiful eggs.

Although undeniably tragic, the final demise of the Great Auk led to the birth of the conservation movement. Laws were eventually passed to prevent the killing of birds during the nesting season, and similar laws were later extended to other wildlife species.

Snippet:

auk_in1

It’s Nonfiction Monday!

vampireslair
The Vampire’s Lair
by Dee Phillips (Author)

Booktalk: When twin brothers Dylan and Jack travel to a Romanian castle to attend their older sister’s wedding, they discover an old legend that haunts the remote castle. The twins’ fascination soon turns to horror, however, when they realize that there’s a vampire in the castle’s dungeon. What will happen once the bloodthirsty vampire begins stalking the castle’s dark passageways? Will Dylan and Jack be able to escape with their lives?

Snippet: “It was my destiny from birth to be a hunter of vampires,” he said. “My father was a vampire hunter, as was my grandfather before him. My family members have hunted and destroyed these evil monsters for generations.”