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A review by emdoux
Kakapo Rescue: Saving the World's Strangest Parrot by Sy Montgomery
5.0
The kakapo, a type of parrot that lives in New Zealand, is one of the most amusing animals on the planet. I first heard about the kakapo while reading a book called Last Chance to See, a book written by a famous science fiction author, Douglas Adams, about a trip he took round the world to observe several endangered species of animal in the wild. One of those animals was the kakapo.
He wrote that “the Kakapo is a kind of parrot. It lives in New Zealand. It’s a flightless parrot – it has forgotten how to fly. Sadly, it has also forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly. So, a seriously worried kakapo has been known to run up a tree and jump out of it.” Kakapos fly like bricks, it turns out. They also, not having ever lived with any predators at all, are really good at getting eaten (they even smell like honey, which is pretty enticing for any animal looking for a quick meal). They don’t have great vision (hence the whiskers on the front of their faces, which they use to help them feel their way around) – and not only can’t they fly, they can’t run… they do this sort of waddling skip that I really recommend looking up a YouTube video of.
As you can imagine from all that evidence on how kakapo are really bad at being alive, they are a critically endangered species. When Douglas Adams went to New Zealand in the 1970s to see the kakapo, there were only about fifty of them in existence. They don’t live anywhere except New Zealand, and they’re very difficult animals as far as keeping themselves alive. They, as you can imagine with the whole flying / falling thing, aren’t very smart. (in fact, they really aren’t very smart.) But they are very interesting – and they are very endangered.
Can anyone guess how many kakapo are alive in the world today?? Only 125. That’s about as many as are in your entire grade. There aren’t even that many pages in this book. Kakapo seem to be doing a lot better, though – and you’ll read about how humans helped in this Sibert-winning book. I think a good nonfiction book is one that leaves you telling your friends random and interesting facts for weeks after you read it... and this book hits that mark perfectly.
He wrote that “the Kakapo is a kind of parrot. It lives in New Zealand. It’s a flightless parrot – it has forgotten how to fly. Sadly, it has also forgotten that it has forgotten how to fly. So, a seriously worried kakapo has been known to run up a tree and jump out of it.” Kakapos fly like bricks, it turns out. They also, not having ever lived with any predators at all, are really good at getting eaten (they even smell like honey, which is pretty enticing for any animal looking for a quick meal). They don’t have great vision (hence the whiskers on the front of their faces, which they use to help them feel their way around) – and not only can’t they fly, they can’t run… they do this sort of waddling skip that I really recommend looking up a YouTube video of.
As you can imagine from all that evidence on how kakapo are really bad at being alive, they are a critically endangered species. When Douglas Adams went to New Zealand in the 1970s to see the kakapo, there were only about fifty of them in existence. They don’t live anywhere except New Zealand, and they’re very difficult animals as far as keeping themselves alive. They, as you can imagine with the whole flying / falling thing, aren’t very smart. (in fact, they really aren’t very smart.) But they are very interesting – and they are very endangered.
Can anyone guess how many kakapo are alive in the world today?? Only 125. That’s about as many as are in your entire grade. There aren’t even that many pages in this book. Kakapo seem to be doing a lot better, though – and you’ll read about how humans helped in this Sibert-winning book. I think a good nonfiction book is one that leaves you telling your friends random and interesting facts for weeks after you read it... and this book hits that mark perfectly.