cover image A LOON ALONE

A LOON ALONE

Pamela Love, , illus. by Shannon Sycks. . Down East, $14.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-89272-571-7

Author and artist fluidly combine a glimpse of nature's pecking order and a cautionary tale in this attractive volume about a loon chick separated from and ultimately reunited with its mother. "On a lake in the Maine woods, two loons—a mother and chick—were swimming together." But the young bird soon lags behind. Young readers will identify with the loon chick's distraction as he engages in innocent fun: "Sometimes, he would dive and bring up a smooth, white stone in his dark grey bill. It was play—but also practice for catching fish someday." However, his antics draw unwanted attention from a snapping turtle; his mother spies the predator and scares the turtle away. Sycks's finely detailed illustrations, rendered in earth-tones, shows the loon nestling beside cattails and a fallen tree branch as camouflage. Intricate pencil strokes reveal the chick's wispy down with scientific accuracy. Love narrates the proceedings without anthropomorphizing the creatures, and brings the book to a reassuring conclusion: "Kwuk, kwuk," calls mother loon, signaling that it's safe for her chick to come out. Ages 4-7. (June)