Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 08/01/2019 The titular incredible conveys the substance of travel writer Unwin’s descriptions of animal migrations: many travel greater distances in a single direction than most humans travel in a lifetime! For instance, swallows fly from Europe to Africa and back in their annual migration, and hummingbirds may make a 6000-mile annual round-trip. Following a brief introduction that explains reasons for migration, each two-page spread focuses on one of the book’s 20 insects, animals, or birds. He concludes with a map and migration key, indicating the paths of all animals in the book. Desmond’s soft, muted art—created with watercolor, acrylic, ink, pencil, and pencil crayon—provides the background for each spread and includes a large image of the featured animal, repeated smaller images, or surroundings. Unwin’s text occupies one side of the spread, while a caption in much smaller (and difficult-to-decipher) font is placed on the opposing page. Black font on the lighter pages is mostly easy to read, but sometimes proves difficult on darker backgrounds. Nevertheless, this remains a lovely book, best read individually or one-on-one. - Copyright 2019 Booklist.