Hawk Rising
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- $21.99
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Early morning and a ruffle of feathers,
A shadow gliding through the backyard.
High above your house Father Hawk circles, sharp eyes searching for prey. From the front porch, you watch.
Swoosh!
He dives after chipmunks, crows, sparrows, squirrels.
Screech!
The sun sets low in the sky.
What’s for dinner?
A father red-tailed hawk hunts prey for his family in a suburban neighborhood in this thrilling, fierce, and gorgeous nonfiction picture book, Hawk Rising, illustrated by Caldecott medalist Brian Floca.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The spare, poetic prose of Gianferrari (Hello Goodbye Dog) joins the realistic watercolors of Floca (Princess Cora and the Crocodile) to present a day in the life of a red-tailed hawk. "Hooked beak, sharp as a knife./ Head turning./ Eyes searching./ Chicks waiting." Muted hues illustrate moments from Father Hawk's day as he scans for prey, sunbathes, dives after a chipmunk and sparrows, and finally snags a squirrel to bring back to the nest. All this plays out under the scrutinizing eyes of two young bird-watchers: a girl and her younger sister in a suburban neighborhood, who use binoculars to follow the progress of the feathered hunter. The second-person narration draws parallels between the girls and the hawk, as it also invites readers to imagine themselves in the scenes: "Chicks waiting./ You watching." Painted from varying angles, dynamic spreads and vignettes present the shifting perspectives of bird-watcher, hawk, and prey. The clever pacing and placement of text match the bird's actions across, up, and down the page. This captivating introduction to the red-tailed hawk concludes with more than a half-dozen facts about the common bird of prey and further reading. Ages 4 8.
