To see what your friends thought of this book, 10 May 2004 THE RACE TO SAVE THE LORD GOD BIRD by Phillip Hoose, Farrar Straus & Giroux, August 2004, ISBN: 0-374-36173-8, This reads easily and re-enforces the importance of preserving habitat. : Oscar Robertson and the Basketball Team That Awakened a City. Collectors and ornithologists regarded the Ivory Bill as a rare bird yet they went into the forest and shot them. My rating: 7.5/10, finished 2005. It is also known as the Grail Bird and the Ghost Bird. "The Race to Save the Lord God Bird" is a readable and informative account of the actions and circumstances that brought the ivory-bill woodpecker to near-extinction in spite of a persistent human fascination with the bird and concerted efforts to save it. Includes a glossary of terms, source information, and an index. This book was fascinating and depressing at the same time. Phillip Hoose’s The Race to Save the Lord God Bird is the story of the Ivory-billed woodpecker, now believed to be extinct in North America. Read an Excerpt This is an amazing book. As hope for the Ivory-bill fades in the United States, the bird is last spotted in Cuba in 1987, and Cuban scientists join in the race to save it. Although this is nonfiction, it almost reads as a novel where researchers are racing throughout history to save the ivory billed woodpecker from extinction! American Library Association Notable Children’s Books Hoose begins by telling the reader in the introduction that extinction of a species is nothing new. Despite this chronicle's suspenseful title, this particular race seems to be over, and the Ivory-billed woodpecker (whose observers gasped, "Lord God!") Maddening account of the Ivory-billed Woodpecker's descent into extinction. August 11th 2004 Wonderful. The Race to Save the Lord God Bird: 10th Anniversary Edition. This book reminds me of "The last of the Curlews" and it makes me as sad. "Doc" Allen and his young ornithology student, James Tanner, whose quest to save the Ivory-bill culminates in one of the first great conservation showdowns in U.S. history, an early round in what is now a worldwide effort to save species. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. I'm not a huge "bird" person myself, but I found this story both saddening and inspiring. The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker was last seen in the United States over sixty years ago. The 10th Anniversary Edition Plus, he writes beautifully and uses the neatest little facts to illuminate history. very interesting. A great historical study of the rare (and probably now extinct) Ivory-billed Woodpecker, found in the southern U.S. Published by Melanie Kroupa Books, Hoose tells the history of the life and (most likely) extinction of the Ivory-billed woodpecker. I wound up with a couple of unexpected connections to this story: James Tanner, the young graduate student who spent three years studying the Ivory-billed Woodpecker for the Audubon Society in the 1930s eventually established the Graduate Program in Ecology at the University of Tennessee (Go Vols!). PH is a master story teller. I read this book after Phillip Hoose talked at the Beehive dinner. Also, the rumor that an Ivory-bill was heard in South Carolina prompted the establishment of the Congaree Swamp National Monument in the 1970s. Read The Nature Conservancy article, “On the Trail of the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker”, Awards & Accolades For anyone interested in birds, the environment, etc this is a must-read. It's just sad that it no longer exists, except in photos & recordings. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, “There is probably more passion, sadness, villainy, heroism and sheer suspense in this account of the decline of the ivory-billed woodpecker than in any other book, of any genre…” 
—Washington Post Book World, Available in Hardcover During that time, the best way to study the birds closely was to kill and stuff them. The ivory-billed woodpecker was a bird that roamed the wetlands and ancient forests of the southern U.S. Every reader probably closes the book with a desire to see one of these birds in the wild, knowing full well that they're extinct. With power and humor, rage and sorrow, the narrative details the demise of the Lord God bird (so-called by some because of its awe-inspiring flight), braiding into its tale the stories of those who came into contact with it, from J.J. Audubon himself to James Tanner, the Cornell fellow whose pioneering study of the bird sparked conservationists' understanding that preservation of species requires preservation of … Nice size format and large print with generous images. Especially when the species was so magnificent. The tragedy of extinction is explained through the dramatic story of a legendary bird, the Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and of those who tried to possess it, paint it, shoot it, sell it, and, in a last-ditch effort, save it. American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. All woodpeckers are remarkably evolved and typically gorgeous, but the likely-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker is/was extraordinary. ( Log Out /  Grade Level: 7 – 10, Qualitative it seems much too grave and depressing a topic to be a children's book, but i guess much of children's literature is morbid, sad, or just plain grown-up in subject matter (bridge to terabithia, i'm looking at you!). Awards Knowledge Demands—Intertextuality: Middle Low, Content Area About the Book Students know how to analyze changes in an ecosystem resulting from changes in climate, human activity, introduction of nonnative species, or changes in population size. Language—Clarity: Middle Low (some domain specific vocabulary) The Ivory-bill carries with it an almost-mythical aura, inspiring people to take some of the first steps toward conservation and preservation. Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (2010) Such an interesting book. A powerful saga that sweeps through two hundred years of history, it introduces artists like John James Audubon, bird collectors like William Brewster, and finally a new breed of scientist in Cornell's Arthur A. Great Lakes Book Award – Winner This book has also greatly increased my interest in birds and conservation of habitats, and I ended up ordering 3 more nonfiction books surrounding ornithology! Refresh and try again. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Complete insanity, and why we can't have nice. Eventually, mindsets changed and people began to realize that if these birds were hunted for collections, there would be no more in the wild. For instance, "The [Civil:] War wounded so many people that in 1866 one-fifth of Mississippi's total income was spent on artificial arms and legs." It had not occurred to me to wonder about the origins of that beautiful natural area, one of my favorite places in South Carolina. ( Log Out /  That was the department my dad entered when he began his PhD in 1953. Something quite heartwrenching about the most-likely failed effort to protect the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker. Nice size format and la. I strongly recommend it for young people and adults. Can we get smart enough fast enough to save what remains of our biological heritage? The extinction of a species that occurred over slightly more than a century is such a sad thing.