Sensational Survivors
Non-Fiction Finalist
Sensational Survivors
Sandra Morris
Walker Books Australia
ISBN 978-1-921150-66-1 pb RRP $29.99
Target age 6+
An ancient land isolated by vast oceans, New Zealand is home to many fascinating creatures. From a prehistoric reptile, to one of the world’s largest insects, you’ll discover some of the most unusual and
impressive species on our planet.
Featuring stunning illustrations and text by the award-winning wildlife illustrator Sandra Morris, this book will double as the perfect reference for the home or school, and as a beautiful gift book.
|
|
Sandra Morris gained her Masters in Fine Arts in 1990 where she completed her first picture book, One Lonely Kakapo, which won her the Russell Clark Award for illustration in 1992. She has since written and illustrated Discovering New Zealand Birds, which was a finalist in both the AIM Children’s Book Awards and the Non-Fiction Library Awards. Sandra also holds a Graduate Diploma in Plant and Wildlife Illustration from the University of Newcastle, Australia. It was while she was in Australia that she developed a love for field sketching and this work has been exhibited in museums and galleries. Sandra also runs her own illustration agency promoting New Zealand illustrators overseas. |
Book review by Thomas Semple
Thomas reviewed this book as part of a promotion through the children's TV programme What Now? Here's what he thought...
"Hi, my name is Thomas and I am seven years old. Sensational Survivors is a great book. It tells you about New Zealand’s historical wildlife, and animals that are endangered in the wild right now. It also tells you about special New Zealand birds, such as the kakapo and the kiwi.
Sensational Survivors has brilliant illustrations. It shows you each animal in an interesting way. The illustrations look like watercolour paintings.
On the cover it has a picture of paints and a pencil. When I saw a picture of the book, I thought I was going to get some paints and a pencil with it, but I didn’t. They are on the cover to show that Sandra Morris painted and drew the illustrations in the book. It also has spiral binding printed on the cover as if the book used to be a sketchbook or a journal.
One interesting fact I didn’t know is that brown geckos can drop their tails if attacked. It would be quite funny to see a gecko’s tail without a gecko on the end.
My favourite chapter is about the Haast Eagle. It was known as the tiger of the skies and was New Zealand’s top predator. (A predator is an animal that hunts other animals for its food.) It could carry off a whole sheep in its claws, which were as long as a tiger’s. It lived around 700 years ago.
I recommend this book for seven, eight and nine-year-olds. It’s good if you like learning new facts about animals.
Bookmark/Search this post with