THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD
By Phillip Hoose
Melanie Kroupa Books, 2004
Category: Knowledge for middle-grade readers
“There is probably more passion, sadness, villainy, heroism and sheer suspense in this account of the decline of the ivory-billed woodpecker than in any other book, of any genre, destined for young readers’ shelves this year…a magnificent book, and not just for kids.”
—Washington Post Book World
I heartily concur with these thoughts, though I would take out the phrase ‘this year’ … THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD is one of the greatest nonfiction books I’ve read ever. Hoose pulls reader into the life, times, and probable extinction of one of the most revered birds of all time, the Ivory-billed woodpecker. He does it in fine style and while at the same time planting the delicate seeds of a conservation ethic. I don’t think you can read this book and not blush at the audacity of mankind, or bristle at the idea that this bird’s greatest enemy was … is … us.
As you probably know, an Ivory-bill was sighted again in 2004 and a small population appears to exist in the United States. When you have finished reading THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD, you can rejoice at The Nature Conservancy’s Ivory-billed Woodpecker site.