Bound To Stay Bound

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Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2013 “A large one could be as tall as a basketball hoop. It could swallow a dog in one gulp. No bird has ever been bigger.” Meet the terror birds, flightless apex predators that once feasted on their Cenozoic neighbors in South America and now posthumously delight primary students cutting their own teeth on easy readers. This debut entry in a new Ancient Animals series mainly highlights size and predation, with a nod to migration to North America, relegating even the name of the featured bird, Kelenken guillermoi, to a sentence on the title page verso. No mention is made of the fossil discoveries that inform our understanding of terror birds, an omission that fans of extinct beasties are sure to notice. There is, however, lots of menace and carrion in Plant’s paintings, and fine print labels are frequently included to indicate examples of terror birds’ prey. A half-dozen flightless birds, both extant and extinct, are featured with brief bullet-pointed data, and although they are not drawn to a common scale, they do offer points of comparison with the terror bird. A bibliography of books, videos, and websites is also included. EB - Copyright 2013 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

School Library Journal - 09/01/2013 K-Gr 2—Imagine a predator that stands about seven feet tall and has an enormous hooked beak and long, thick, sharp talons. All of these traits combined to form the largest-known carnivore in the avian world, called the terror bird. It thrived in South America more than 15 million years ago but died out after a land bridge between South and North America formed. These facts, coupled with acrylic gouache illustrations that artfully depict the terrain and various items on the terror bird's menu as they are eaten, will appeal to children fascinated by predator/prey relationships and creatures of the past. The book includes a gallery of other flightless birds. The text is simple and straightforward, with short sentences and an open format. The author concludes with theories about the bird's demise.—Maggie Chase, Boise State University, ID - Copyright 2013 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 12/01/2013 Dinosaurs get plenty of attention, but what about other ancient creatures? Thomson and Plant attempt to remedy this oversight with a glimpse into the life of the terror bird, a prehistoric bird with powerful hind legs; a gigantic, meat-tearing beak; and tiny, flightless wings. In brief, informative free-verse lines, Thomson details the terror bird’s size (“The smallest was the size of an eagle. A large one could be as tall as a basketball hoop”); predatory habits (“It could break bones with one kick”); and its place in the ecosystem (“They kept a balance between food, predators, and prey”). Plant’s vivid paintings of the terror bird in action—chasing down prey, tearing apart their quarry—are clearly labeled with scientific names. Though the book notably lacks a glossary, the list of flightless birds that can be seen today (the much gentler ostrich and emu, for example) and resources for further research make this a good starting point for young readers interested in prehistoric animals. - Copyright 2013 Booklist.

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