#BookReview ~ Beauty and the Beak by Rose & Veltkamp

How Science, Technology, and a 3D-Printed Beak Rescued a Bald Eagle

• Authors: Deborah Lee Rose and Jane Veltkamp
• Publisher: Persnickety Press (August 2017)
• Genre: STEM, Nonfiction, Animals
• Hardback/Paperback: 48 pages
• Age Range: 5 – 13

Synopsis (Publisher)

Beauty and the Beak is the multiple-award-winning story of an injured Bald Eagle, the team that rescued her, and the life-saving technology that gave her a brand new beak. Renowned children’s science writer Deborah Lee Rose and raptor biologist and master falconer Jane Veltkamp joined forces to share Beauty’s story, following her from birth to the day she is shot by a poacher and rendered helpless, unable to hunt or drink. The book continues with Beauty’s rescue, months of engineering a new beak, hours of surgery, and the moment at which Beauty is able to take her first drink of water by herself.

My Thoughts:

Now often does a book review make me want to start a paragraph with WOW! Well, not often enough. But as I read this story that word kept popping up over and over.

While the book starts with a common enough story of a baby eagle being born and growing up, I was immediately captured by the page layouts and pictures that accompanied the text. The pictures and color combination on each page made it hard not to immediately set this story higher than most. But I had no idea that this was just a sneak preview of what was to come.

The young bird that we’ve watch grow is found at a landfill trying to peck for food. But there is a problem. A bullet has shattered her beak and her eye is torn and her face bleeding. Here’s where the protective Mama in me says whoa up! This just isn’t going to fly. How are little ones who are reading this going to take that? The text alone is heartbreaking but there are pictures.

A policeman wraps our wounded bird in a blanket and takes her to a wildlife center. She is cared for and named Beauty. But she can’t eat or drink without human help. Eventually, the wildlife center has no room to keep her. Ok, I’m thinking. The kids might be in tears, but let’s see where this takes us.

And from there this turns into a story that both kids and adults will marvel at over and over. The pictures and page layouts continue to work together hand in hand with the text. Mama’s you know your children, but this turns into a beautiful story that will help kids learn and develop.

Raptor biologist JanieVeltkamp knows she has to find a way to give this beautiful eagle a new beak. But is that even possible? This book will document that journey.

Along with Beauty’s journey are wonderful short, informational sections at the back of the book

• Where Is Beauty Today?
• The Bald Eagle as U.S. Symbol
• A Note From Raptor Biologist Janie Veltkamp
• All About Bald Eagles, and more.

I received a review copy for free, and I am leaving this honest review completely voluntarily.

What Concerned Me:

Absolutely nothing at all!

What I Liked Most:

Honestly, each time I turned the page I found myself more and more excited. I thought it would be a nice book about eagles. But what I discovered was a book that teaches so much. And it teaches in a fun way that actually makes learning exciting. And finally, the very sad experience of having to see pictures of an animal that has been wounded is an extremely valuable lesson in itself. No doubt the most important in the book.

Beauty and the Beak Educational Guide

CLICK for an excellent guide for use alongside this book.

About The Authors:

Deborah Lee Rose

is an internationally published, award-winning author of many beloved children’s books. Her newest book Beauty and the Beak: The Inspiring Story of a Bald Eagle and Her 3D-Printed Prosthetic Beak is a CALIFORNIA READS recommended title of the California Teachers Association. Jimmy the Joey: The True Story of an Amazing Koala Rescue is a Reading is Fundamental/Macy’s Multicultural Collection title and Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Students K-12. Into the A, B, Sea was named to the NY Times 100 Books to Read and Share. Deborah helped create and directed communications for the ALA/AASL award-winning, national STEM education website Howtosmile.org, and helped created STEM activity apps for Lawrence Hall of Science, which have been downloaded more than one million times. She also served as Director of Communications for Lindsay Wildlife Experience, which includes the first wildlife rehabilitation hospital established in the U.S. Deborah lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, and speaks at book events, conferences, schools and libraries across the country. Visit her website at deborahleerose.com.

Jane Veltkamp is a raptor biologist and rehabilitator, wildlife educator, trained nurse, and master falconer. She led the team who developed Beauty the bald eagle’s prosthetic beak and has lifetime care of Beauty, on which Beauty and the Beak was based. Jane is founder and executive director of Birds of Prey Northwest, in Idaho, a raptor center which educates the public about raptor conservation, including through live raptor programs, and has provided medical treatment and rehabilitation to thousands of injured birds of prey to return them to the wild. She spent ten years of her career reintroducing ospreys and peregrine falcons to regions where they had disappeared from their habitat in South Dakota and Indiana. She rescues and cares for bald eagles, including Beauty, by permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Jane lives near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and is also the eagle expert for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Native American Aviaries. Visit her website at birdsofpreynorthwest.org.