Parrots Over Puerto Rico

(2013) Lee & Low Books Inc.
by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore
collages by Susan L. Roth
 
 

AWARDS

  • Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, American Library Association
  • Starred Review, The Horn Book Magazine
  • Starred Review, Booklist
  • Starred Review, Kirkus Reviews
  • Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
  • 2013 Nerdy Book Award, Nerdy Book Club
  • Starred Review, School Library Journal
  • Original Art 2013, Society of Illustrators
  • Books for Youth Editors' Choice 2013, Booklist
  • Junior Library Guild Selection
  • Lasting Connection Title, Book Links
  • Diverse and Impressive Picture Books of 2013, IRA Reading Today Online
  • Choices, Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
  • Teacher's Choices Reading List, IRA
  • Riverby Award, John Burroughs Association
  • Best Books for Children and Young Adults, Bank Street Books
  • Américas Book Award
    Consortium of Latin American Studies Program (CLASP)
  • Orbis Pictus Award Honor Book, National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)

 

"Few nonfiction picture books attempt this level of ambition, and even fewer succeed. . . . Roth's stunning artwork—fluttery, textural collages of fabric and paper with a three-dimensional quality—compliment the high-interest narrative and are arranged vertically across dual pages to make the most of the tall trees and the related human actions taking place below. A triumphant reminder of the inescapable connection between people's actions and the animals in the wild."
-starred review, Booklist

 

 

 

"An ambitious project: The text on each vibrant, double-page collage, arranged vertically, intersperses the near-extinction and slow comeback of the Puerto Rican parrot with over 2,000 years of human history. . . . The onomatopoeic derivation of the parrots’ Taíno name, iguaca, is developed nicely in its repeated use as the parrots’ call. By turns poetic and scientific, the text offers a wealth of information. Every paper-and-fabric collage is frame-worthy, from depictions of waterfalls and rain forest to sailing ships, hazards and, of course, parrots. From the commanding cover illustration to the playful image on the back, simply spectacular."
-starred review, Kirkus Reviews