“When Beavers Flew” Review & Gift Bundle
Publisher Description
In 1948, the town of McCall, Idaho was growing rapidly. World War II was over, and the little town tucked away in the mountains began to boom. There was only one problem. As the town expanded, they found beavers everywhere. A beaver here, a beaver there, and it didn’t take long to realize that humans and beavers weren’t great cohabitators. But one clever and resourceful Fish and Game Warden named Elmo Heter had an idea.
Heter knew that the beavers were integral to the wetlands, so keeping the well-being of the beavers in mind he set out to find a way to relocate them. After a few failed attempts, he finally landed on a wild idea… parachutes. Using a surplus of parachutes left over from WWII and creating a special box with air holes designed to pop open when it hit the ground, Heter devised a way to parachute the beavers into Idaho’s backcountry, an area that beavers hadn’t inhabited in decades.
Kirsten Tracy’s fascinating and playful nonfiction text pairs beautifully with Luisa Uribe’s detailed illustrations to bring this compelling true story to life.
Living-Book Review
When Beavers Flew was such a joy to read! This was the first I’d been introduced to this particular conservation effort and it was such a unique & quirky story. You know you’ve got a good living book when it sparks enough adult curiosity to dig a little deeper into the subject, and I appreciated the extra resources included with the bibliography. Luisa Uribe did a great job with the soft, approachable illustrations; I loved the desaturated color palette and vintage scrapbook style. Captivating! This book would be a great addition to the home library for K-2 students studying ecosystems and reminded me very much of Bringing Back the Wolves: How a Predator Restored an Ecosystem, which was scheduled as part of our Sonlight Science C book stack in second grade.
$45 Gift Bundle Idea + Learning Extensions
I love thinking about ways to create a gift bundle based on a good book and When Beaver’s Flew is no exception! Here are a few quirky options to gift this book to your student or a young family member along with some experiential learning extensions:
Gift a few parachute toys and/or miniature beavers with the book ($45)
Add on mini pretzel sticks & melting chocolates to create edible beaver dams
Watch Parachuting Beavers [2:05] courtesy of Idaho Dept. of Fish & Game
Listen to Kids Morning News: #103 Lights in the Sky, Parachuting Beavers, Water on Mars
Listen to Species: Parachuting Beavers, Smart Sparrows, and Pikachu
Have students build miniature beaver crates out of sticks (or popsicle sticks)
Build a LEGO beaver habitat
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” Job 12:7-10
