Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95

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Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 384 ratings · 132 reviews

B95 can feel it: a stirring in his bones and feathers. It’s time. Today is the day he will once again cast himself into the air, spiral upward into the clouds, and bank into the wind.
He wears a black band on his lower right leg and an orange flag on his upper left, bearing the laser inscription B95. Scientists call him the Moonbird because, in the course of his astoundingl...more

Hardcover, 160 pages

Published July 17th 2012 by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

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Lists with This Book

The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate

The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin Levine

The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis

Newbery 2013

25th out of 95 books — 697 voters

Books for Youth Activists and Tree Hugging Teens

6th out of 59 books — 22 voters

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Apr 17, 2013 Jim Erekson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: informational, biography

Another difficult review to write, because this book is a genre-breaker. Like Helfer's book about the lion, this one is really a biography but it's about an animal rather than a person. Hoose dedicates the careful attention to this individual bird we would expect from a biographer. At the same time, however, the book is jam-packed with all of the visual features and structure we have come to expect from exemplary informational text.

1. Sourcing. Eight pages of chapter by chapter notes in back ma...more Another difficult review to write, because this book is a genre-breaker. Like Helfer's book about the lion, this one is really a biography but it's about an animal rather than a person. Hoose dedicates the careful attention to this individual bird we would expect from a biographer. At the same time, however, the book is jam-packed with all of the visual features and structure we have come to expect from exemplary informational text.

1. Sourcing. Eight pages of chapter by chapter notes in back matter; Annotated bibliography with 23 items on three pages, in categories.
2. Photos. They are at once compelling and relevant. These images are all about providing context for B95's journey. In a biography we are used to seeing all of these photos crammed into the middle plates, but because this is a hardcover informational text the information-text style was granted free rein to place the full color photos throughout the text. Brilliant!
3. Informational features. Captions, maps, diagrams, infographics, text vignettes in blue boxes, datelines in chapter headers, subsections when needed, profiles of key scientists as sections within chapters--everything that encourages browsing over cover to cover reading. (That's how I've been using this book over the past week.)
4. Text. Extremely reliable, and well-connected to specific scientists and research traditions. All woven into a compelling narrative packed with science identities, science processes, and science thinking. Just like we expect from good National Geographic format, there is plenty of text here--a lot of reading to do when I was done browsing. Yes, the info-text features lead me to browse, but also eventually to settle in for some longer focused reading.

Beyond all of the high-quality design (Roberta Pressel is credited in the front matter), the book gave me an interesting aesthetic 'in the moment' experience of following this bird across oceans and continents. In all, I'm surprised this book didn't win the 2013 Newbery. (less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Donalyn rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-nerdy-book-club-shortlist, ncbla-committee-2013-books, ya-nonfiction, ncbla-committee-2013-shortlist

Quite possibly one of the best children's nonfiction books I've ever read. Rufa Red Knot, B95, (known as Moonbird) has flown so many miles in his 19 year lifespan, he could have flown to the moon. Surviving harsh conditions, dwindling food sources, and grueling flights across oceans, this valiant superbird "has to be among the toughest four ounces of life in the world." Using B95 as the protagonist in a riveting survival story, Phillip Hoose describes the plight of migratory shorebirds, who are...more

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Jun 12, 2013 Ina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Man of Steel move over...there is a new superhero up in the skies and he is B95, a rufa red knot, who is a migratory shore bird who flies some 9,000 miles every year from his wintering grounds at the tip of South America to his breeding grounds near the Arctic Circle. The author documents a year in the life of this remarkable bird, and the dedicated group of scientists that are studying red knots and trying to prevent extinction of this species. B95 is almost 20 years old and during his remarkab...more

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May 15, 2013 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm pleased that I finally read this book, which I intend to booktalk to the fifth grade. It's a very clear, well-illustrated book that shows:
1. Something of the life and life cycle of a remarkable bird.
2. How scientists do research, and how they were able to find out how red knots like the moonbird live.
3. the contributions of citizen scientists, like a class of Argentinian students and their teacher, and the New Jersey fisherman who showed the scientists an important feeding ground for the kno...more

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May 11, 2013 Anne Broyles rated it 5 of 5 stars

Science rarely interests me. I am more the humanities/history type. Phillip Hoose's books are so enticingly written and beautifully illustrated, I am hooked. And how could anyone resist the beautiful B95, a rufa red-knot (shorebird) who has survived at least twenty years of migrating 9,000 miles each way from Tierra del Fuego to the Canadian Arctic.

Hoose tells a compelling story with a memorable protagonist who happens to be the size of a robin. And as he does, the author teaches about extinctio...more

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Apr 14, 2013 Barb Middleton rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, nonfiction-narrative

Ever hear of a robin-sized bird that flies from South Pole to the North Pole? Me neither. This story follows the migratory patterns of Moonbird, a rufa red knot, that travels 18,000 miles each year on a primordial quest for food and mates. Researchers tagged Moonbird in 1995 and ironically put a band on his leg that represented the captured group B series - he just happened to be number 95. The author tends to call him B95 moreso than Moonbird. Moonbird's name reflects that after twenty years, h...more Ever hear of a robin-sized bird that flies from South Pole to the North Pole? Me neither. This story follows the migratory patterns of Moonbird, a rufa red knot, that travels 18,000 miles each year on a primordial quest for food and mates. Researchers tagged Moonbird in 1995 and ironically put a band on his leg that represented the captured group B series - he just happened to be number 95. The author tends to call him B95 moreso than Moonbird. Moonbird's name reflects that after twenty years, he has flown the same distance to the moon and almost back to earth. No other bird tagged has lived this long or traveled this far. He is Superbird, an amazing flying machine. In ten years, the rufa red knots have gone from 150,000 to 15,000. The author looks at why this is and tackles questions regarding how to stop it.

This expository text is so engaging that I kept spitting out facts to my husband as I was being wowed by this tiny creature that performs feats that don't seem possible. Did you know that this bird eats 14 times it's weight and manages to fly? Did you know in 2009 scientists invented geolocators so lightweight and small that they can track bird migration? Did you know that horseshoe crab blood is used to make sure medical equipment is sterilized? Did you know... the poor guy won't have to read the book after me being a chatterbox of nonstop facts through 120 pages. While the author explains how the bird has evolved in order to make this journey of exhaustion and gives clear reasons for its impending extinction, it is a harder text because it is a hybrid nonfiction narrative that requires a higher level of comprehension.

Hybrid texts require synthesizing captions, sidebars, graphs, and main text. The narrative story shifts points of view that might confuse some. The first paragraph in the introduction is in italics and is from the bird's point of view, with paragraph two in the 3rd person, and the last paragraph switching back to the first person narrative. The next chapter begins in first person narrative while the profiles are in third person. While it is handled extremely well, it makes for a more complex read.

This book is loaded with different themes involving environmental impact, handling animals ethically, scientific study of shorebirds, to name a few. Hoose draws upon firsthand experience, secondary sources and interviews. I particularly like the story of Patricia Gonzalez who worked with her high school students to protect beaches in San Antonio Bay, Argentina. The book is interspersed with the story of the migration narrated by Hoose, along with profiles of scientists or activists in protecting the birds. Text boxes and maps explain concepts such as molting, distance, banding, and other amazing facts. The subtext on horseshoe crabs, the fragility of ecosystems, and the cost to fisherman's livelihood is balanced and clearly presented to readers.

The writing is gorgeous. You can smell, feel, and hear the ocean with this text. "Then hundreds of chattering birds, some beginning to show hints of red in their feathering, beat their wings and rise into the air as one, towering up into a tight, swirling, shape-shifting column that seeks the wind and looks like drifting smoke to a shorebound observer."

Phillip Hoose captures the senses and creates a moving story. I was so wrapped up in B95's tale that I got tears in my eyes as the suspense builds as to whether or not Moonbird is alive or dead. Hoose's first person point of view also pulled me into the story like the tide coming in; his experiences with banding and capturing the creatures engage all the senses. This topnotch book pulls together information from scientists, activists, children, biologists, fisherman, and personal experience to create a fantastic tale of hope for the future of these birds and for humanity to correct some damage they are causing to the environmental. A must read.(less)

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Feb 02, 2013 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Chock full of colorful photographs, maps, diagrams, and profiles of biologists and researchers, this book was really hard to put down. Hoose does an excellent job illuminating all facets of the ecosystems upon which rufa red knots rely. At times the highly detailed book read like a suspense novel, and put me in mind of books by Laura Hillenbrand and Caroline Alexander. Appendixes include a bibliography and web sites for further investigation and ideas for how kids can get involved in conservatio...more Chock full of colorful photographs, maps, diagrams, and profiles of biologists and researchers, this book was really hard to put down. Hoose does an excellent job illuminating all facets of the ecosystems upon which rufa red knots rely. At times the highly detailed book read like a suspense novel, and put me in mind of books by Laura Hillenbrand and Caroline Alexander. Appendixes include a bibliography and web sites for further investigation and ideas for how kids can get involved in conservation efforts.

And B95 was just spotted this spring! http://delaware.newszap.com/centralde...

Page 31: Eating constantly when he can find food, B95 seems to inflate, storing fat in cavities and compartments all over his body. His stomach and digestive organs expand so that he can take in even more fuel. (A red knot can consume fourteen times its own weight. To do that, a human being weighing 110 pounds would need to eat 2,300 hamburgers at two thirds of a pound per hamburger, with cheese and tomato.)

Page 60 (preparing to band birds at Reeds Beach in Delaware Bay): The yellow cottage has the bustle of a fraternity house. Trucks and vans are parked on both sides of the puddle-pocked dirt road out front. The kitchen sink is piled high with dishes, and the living room is strewn with maps. A row of computer screens set upon a long table blazes at all hours as scientists tap in data. Graphs and tide charts and work assignment sheets are taped to the walls. On the back porch overlooking the bay, students sift through buckets of sand collected from several nearby beaches. Using tweezers to pluck horseshoe crab eggs from the sand, they set them aside so that they can compare the density of eggs with samples taken in previous years. As waves of a late-afternoon high tide lap against the porch standards below, there are probably a dozen studies of one kind or another taking place simultaneously within the walls of this small yellow cottage facing out onto the bay.

Page 62 (attempting to push the birds into the path of a cannon net to be captured and banded): Peter Fullargar and Mark Peck, team members who are deployed along the beach, communicate with Larry via walkie-talkie. All morning long Peter and Mark have been observing birds and radioing their position back. With the tide coming in steadily now, and the birds still separated by the creek, it's time to try to "twinkle" them together. Twinkling means getting close enough to shorebirds to be able to gently nudge a flock a short distance in one direction or another without spooking them into flight. Some people just have a knack for it. Peter and Mark are world-class twinklers.(less)

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Jan 28, 2013 Brandy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mock-newbery-contenders, non-fiction

I'll just come right out and say it, I don't normally read non-fiction books. Since I have been keeping up this year with mock newbery titles and this was one of them, I decided to go for it.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but I wasn't expecting what I got. When I first opened it up, I was a little disheartened to see that it looked like a textbook. Text on the page with text boxes, pictures and maps thrown on the pages too.

I jumped into reading it and was really s...more I'll just come right out and say it, I don't normally read non-fiction books. Since I have been keeping up this year with mock newbery titles and this was one of them, I decided to go for it.

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I picked this book up, but I wasn't expecting what I got. When I first opened it up, I was a little disheartened to see that it looked like a textbook. Text on the page with text boxes, pictures and maps thrown on the pages too.

I jumped into reading it and was really surprised at how interesting it was. The author was able to explain about the red knots in such a way that I wanted more! How could that be??

After learning about B95, one of the oldest red knots known to man, I was rooting for him and it was because of him I was compelled to keep reading.

My family thought it was a little weird that I was reading a "textbook" for fun, but when I told them about these amazing little birds, it seemed that they were just as excited about them as I was. Each day they would ask more about the book.

Now for my opinions. I can see why this book got all the buzz it did this year, and I can also see why it won the medals that it did. It was very well written. It was so informative but also explained in a way that children would understand. Writing it with a "main character" made it so we were able to connect with it like a fiction book.

However, it is still non-fiction. My kids were interested in hearing what I had to say, but I am not sure they would read the whole book. I am sure they would pick it up and skim through it and read some of the text boxes. It was not like a fiction story where I wanted to hurry and finish because I just had to see what happened next. It was a very deliberate effort to pick the book up each free moment and finish it. So while it was excellent writing, and enjoyable read, it was not a book I couldn't put down.

I think kids might not read the whole thing either. It was 123 pages. At times I felt that I just wanted it to be over but my curiosity of what happens with B95 kept me going. That was a brilliant way for Phillip Hoose to write the book. If anything will get kids to finish the book B95 will.

Do I think you should read this? Yes. Do I think kids will read it? Maybe. Am I going to leave this book lying around for my kids to pick up before it is due back at the library? Absolutely! Am I glad I read it? Most Definitely. Very grateful to be participating in mock newbery discussions so I can be introduced to books like this that I would have never picked up on my own. (less)

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Jan 25, 2013 Donna rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: animals, nonfiction, science, teen, children

I wasn't particularly looking forward to reading this book, and so was completely surprised when I thoroughly enjoyed it. I knew nothing about red knots going in, and had assumed that B95 was a number assigned to the species, rather than an individual bird. B95 is the hero of the story, a nearly 20-year-old bird who thrives in a harsh world. He's nicknamed Moonbird because he's flown at least as far as to the moon and halfway back, and probably further. As a long-time survivor among a species th...more

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Dec 25, 2012 Barbara rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: animals, excellence-in-young-adult-nonfictio, green-books, ncbla2013, science, travel, weather

This amazing nonfiction title describes a feat that is stranger and more unlikely that fiction. In eight engaging chapters, Phillip Hoose manages to make readers care about the most unlikely of winged heroes, the rufa red knot, known as B95 because of its band number, and affectionately called the Moonbird because the distance he has flown during his lifetime equals a trip to the moon and halfway back. Each year this amazing bird flies from Tierra del Fuego near the bottom of the Earth to San An...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Ed added it

Hoose, P. (2012). Moonbird: A year on the wind with the great survivor B95. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 148 pp. ISBN: 978-0-374-30468-3. (Hardcover); $21.99.

Phillip Hoose won a Newbery honor for his biography of Claudette Colvin. He also wrote an informational book about the pileated woodpecker (The Race to Save the Lord God Bird). Any author that can get me to read, EAGERLY, more than 200 pages about a woodpecker commands respect for anything he chooses to write.

This time Hoose follows a f...more Hoose, P. (2012). Moonbird: A year on the wind with the great survivor B95. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux. 148 pp. ISBN: 978-0-374-30468-3. (Hardcover); $21.99.

Phillip Hoose won a Newbery honor for his biography of Claudette Colvin. He also wrote an informational book about the pileated woodpecker (The Race to Save the Lord God Bird). Any author that can get me to read, EAGERLY, more than 200 pages about a woodpecker commands respect for anything he chooses to write.

This time Hoose follows a four-ounce bird, rufa red knot, given the name, Moonbird, B95 to be specific, on his 9,000 mile journey from the tip of South America to South Hampton Island and the polar regions in Canada (and then back again, another 9,000 mile journey). While this book describes these shorebirds that are about the size of a robin, it is the story of this one specific bird that transforms this informational text into the transcendent realm of award winning nonfiction. This is a book to give to folks who claim not to enjoy nonfiction. Scientists estimate that B95 has flown approximately 325,000 miles in its lifetime, which would get Moonbird to the moon and halfway back. B95’s yearly journey requires exact timing, abundant food, a coordinated group defense against predators, and a whole lot of luck (among other compelling needs). The amazing fact of B95, who was first banded in 1995 at an estimated age of three, is that this same bird was spotted again in November 2011! This species of bird depends upon an abundant supply of high- energy food at each of the four different spots. B95 is able to eat fourteen times its own weight, “To do that, a human weighing 110 pounds wound need to eat 2,300 hamburgers at two thirds of a pound per hamburger, with chees and tomato.” (p. 31). B95 has a body that is capable of other mysteries that Hoose describes in his characteristic awe-inducing words. Of special note is the manner in which readers are supplied with species information and the habitat needs of the rufa red knot at each of their stopping spots. The precise timing of the flights combined with the physical changes of the bird, including how heavy it needs to be before it can safely fly are as engaging as any adventure text one can read. Along the way readers learn about banding, including B95’s distinctive bands of orange and black. The habitat and food supply of this species has caused a dramatic drop in the numbers of these birds to the point that scientists are taking steps to protect the rest stops; the food supply of the birds, including the humble horseshoe crabs; as well as getting the species on the endangered species list, which scientists describe as an agonizingly slow process. Unlike the very bleak story of the pileated woodpecker, the rufa red knot, as championed by B95, have a chance, as described in the chapter, “Extinction Is Forever” and the appendix, which is given a subtitle, “What You Can Do.” While the quality of writing in the appendix is didactic, Hoose has earned this right by making readers care desperately for this bird, especially B95 whom we meet on four separate captures and several other sightings and pictures. Perhaps the most hopeful note of all is the fact that less than one year ago, a picture positively identifying a very healthy B95 was taken, giving readers hope that B95 will fly those remaining miles from the moon before it dies. Filled with biographies of the scientists involved, insets with information about birds and biology, maps with mileage of the migratory route, plenty of clear photographs, detailed source notes, an abundant bibliography, and an excellent list of resources that include multimedia and online sources insure that this book will be included in the nonfiction award winners announced this January! Buy this book for all elementary, middle school, and high school libraries.
(less)

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Nov 22, 2012 Joan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: nature lovers, birders.

Shelves: animals, climate-change, science-nonfiction, 2012-favorites, nonfiction

This is the story of shorebirds, specifically Rufa, told through one amazing bird known as B95. His nickname is Moonbird, because they calculate in his incredible lifespan (almost 20 years old now) he has flown the equivalent of to the moon and halfway back! His species needs to always be in the equivalent of spring and summer so it migrates from near the south pole to the Arctic areas and then back each year! They do nonstop trips of hundreds to thousands of miles at one time, without a break i...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Lady Lioness rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-children-s-nonfiction, read-october-2012

Day Two of no power, thanks to Sandy, and again writing this out long-hand. Cell phone access has been very sporadic so I can't get online at all. I miss you, Internet.

Anywho, Moonbird was another selection from the Stars so Far list. I have long been fascinated with endangered and extinct species, so this one was right up my alley. The author, Phillip Hoose, uses one creature from the rufa red knot species, B95 aka the Moonbird, to illustrate the endurance of these birds. The book largely focu...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Kermit rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: junior-nonfiction

4.2 stars
I got this title from a list of best children's nonfiction books for 2012. However, I'm not sure if kids will readily pick up this book and read it all the way through. It's not a long book, but kids might get stalled in some of the beginning information in the book about how bird researchers developed methods to net/capture birds so that their legs could be banded and the birds, therefore, tracked.
Red knot rufas are small shorebirds--about the size of a robin. Every year the red knot r...more

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Sep 19, 2012 Donna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: children, tweens

This is an intriguing story about the amazing annual journey of a particular type of shorebird, the red knots, as they move their small bodies up and down the globe. The story is made even more fascinating with its focus on one bird, tagged as B95 approximately 17 years ago, who continues to make and survive this journey, becoming a hero for shorebird advocates. Phillip Hoose spends a chapter on each leg of the birds' journey, including compelling details of the fragility their food chain, how t...more

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Sep 16, 2012 Brandy Painter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I am not a person who thinks much or cares much about birds. In fact, I have only ever entertained two thoughts about them:
1. They are frequently tasty.
2. They are annoying when I'm trying to sleep in.

This book had me seriously interested in the fate of a bird and through him an entire species of birds. Well done, Mr. Hoose. For anyone who thinks scientific non-fiction can't have plot I offer up this book to prove you wrong. As you read you can't help but cheer and fear for B95 as he makes his p...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-award-possibilities, sibert-winners-and-honors

I loved this book at first, but it lost some speed with me. Hoose does a great job at writing the drama of the scientists waiting on beaches, the average people making discoveries and turning into scientists, and his own role in a bird-banding. I was far less taken with the sections about Moonbird himself that are speculative and somewhat anthropomorphic; I didn't find them an effective method of story-telling or fact-sharing. I would have been happy with a book that didn't have a central charac...more

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Aug 30, 2012 Roberta Gibson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-nonfiction

Phillip Hoose has a wonderful new middle-grade book released this month, Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. After winning the 2009 National Book Award with Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, he has gone in a new direction, but once again he has found a little-known main character whose story deserves to be told.

Who or what is “moonbird?” The title refers to a tiny bird who has flown an estimated 350,000 miles – over the distance to the moon and halfway back – in his l...more Phillip Hoose has a wonderful new middle-grade book released this month, Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95. After winning the 2009 National Book Award with Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, he has gone in a new direction, but once again he has found a little-known main character whose story deserves to be told.

Who or what is “moonbird?” The title refers to a tiny bird who has flown an estimated 350,000 miles – over the distance to the moon and halfway back – in his lifetime!

The moonbird is also known as B95 because that was the number he was banded with in South America in 1995. He is a male shorebird commonly called a red knot. He’s a member of the rufa subspecies, which migrates from the tip of South America all the way to the Arctic Circle and then back each year. Scientists have been spotting B95 during portions of his trip. The most recent sighting was in May of this year. If you do the math 2012-1995 (when he was first tagged) = an age of 17 years. That is impressive enough, but scientists estimate he was already a mature bird when he was first tagged, which means he was probably at least three years old. B95 is some 20 years old and still going strong.

It is tempting to tell you all the details about amazing B95, but we’re supposed to be reviewing the book. Phillip Hoose follows B95′s journey, starting with a trip to the tip of South America to visit the spot where B95 was first banded. He then moves to the critical stopover station in Delaware Bay, before traveling north to the birds’ breeding ground in the Arctic and then heading south again. To keep the reader oriented during all this moving about, the book contains numerous helpful maps. Also, at each stop Hoose meets and profiles dedicated scientists who study the birds. The final chapter addresses the issue of extinction, why you should care about these tiny birds, and, as you will find out, horseshoe crabs as well. He also brings the story back to young people and what they can do to help.

In the Appendix, Hoose lists a number of child-friendly organizations and projects that welcome participation and promote education about birds and conservation issues. The book also has source notes and a bibliography for those interested in learning more.

Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 is a must-read book for budding ornithologists and conservation biologists. Others who read it might just be inspired to take up a new hobby, birdwatching!
(less)

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Aug 16, 2012 Richie Partington rated it 5 of 5 stars

Richie’s Picks: MOONBIRD: A YEAR ON THE WIND WITH THE GREAT SURVIVOR B95 by Phillip Hoose, Farrar Straus & Giroux, July 2012, 160p., ISBN: 978-0-374-30468-3

“Summer lovin’, had me a blast
Summer lovin’, happened so fast”
--Summer Nights (from Grease)

“When tilting along a beach, the horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) looks like a helmet dragging a barbed spear, leaving a road-grader-like print in the sand. More closely related to spiders and scorpions than to crabs, Limulus seems prehistoric, a...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Staci rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: yalsa-award-lists-2012

Towards the end of "Moonbird: A Year on the Wind", Hoose asks the question, "Why should you care?" I found myself at that point caring very much about B95, also known as Moonbird, a rufa. Rufas are a type of shorebird that spend their lives migrating from South America to the Arctic, their breeding grounds. B95 is nicknamed Moonbird because at roughly 20 years of age, scientists have estimated that he has flown the same as to the moon and halfway back.

Hoose does a great job of not only detailing...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Fran rated it 4 of 5 stars

Captivating non-fiction narrative details the life of a specific rufus red knot, B95. Scientists have tracked this particular bird since 1995 as he makes his yearly migration from the tip of South America to the Arctic Circle. Through the story of B95, readers learn about the migration, flight patterns, food sources, predators, and human threats to the small shorebirds. The rufus population has decreased by 80% in the last 20 years. Each chapter contains a profile of a scientist or conservationi...more

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Dec 19, 2012 Brenda Lower rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-best-of-best-challenge, non-fiction

You can find this review, plus others, at my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

This is a finalist for the YALSA 2013 Award for the Excellence in Non-Fiction. This review is part of their reading challenge! Learn more about YALSA, the award, and the challenge at http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/...

Moonbird is based on a small shorebird called a rufa red knot, known by the number B95. First seen in 1995, this bird has flown from the southern tip of South America to north of the Hud...more You can find this review, plus others, at my blog at: http://brensbookstoread.blogspot.com/

This is a finalist for the YALSA 2013 Award for the Excellence in Non-Fiction. This review is part of their reading challenge! Learn more about YALSA, the award, and the challenge at http://www.yalsa.ala.org/thehub/2012/...

Moonbird is based on a small shorebird called a rufa red knot, known by the number B95. First seen in 1995, this bird has flown from the southern tip of South America to north of the Hudson Bay every year for 20 years. Overall, he has flown to the moon and half-way back!

This book traces a typical year in B95's journey. We start in South America, where B95 has grown out his flight feathers. There, he gorges himself on the mussel spat on the coastline, and eventually, feels the urge to go! He flies through two days and nights to his next stop. And this in only the beginning.

Moonbird was a very interesting read. The "story" is constantly supported with set in blocks of text with more information, pictures, and stories of people the author met while writing about B95. The pictures are great, showing lots of different settings and views of the birds. Not only is this book a study of the bird itself, but also of some other connected species, such as the horseshoe crab.

At first, this book seemed to be very heavy on the environmental protection. While that remained an undercurrent through the entire book, it lightened enough that I became more interested in the book. The environmental theme is definitely still present, and a reason behind the writing of the book, but information about the bird's amazing journey was more emphasized. I did like some of the features it had at the end, including resources (where he got his info), what we can do, a bibliography, and an index.

Occasionally, this book almost switched writing styles, from a presentation of facts or telling a story about people who are gathering the information, to something that "supposedly" happens. This was most obvious during the chapter on the bird's stay in Canada. Instead of presenting facts, or having someone there collecting information, it changed to telling a possible story about B95's parents, and what they may have been like. This transition in styles bugged me, and I kept focusing on the "might have" and "possibly" instead of the facts.

Overall though, I really enjoyed this book once I got into it. The information was great and told in an organized manner. I liked how the author told not only the story of B95, but also how it connects and interacts with the world around it. The explanation of cause and effect (why the bird went where) was very well done. I only wish that the environmental bias had been not as forceful and overt.
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Aug 23, 2012 Destinee Sutton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, middle-grade, animals, environment, tween, teen

Phillip Hoose is a mighty fine writer. I have almost zero interest in birds and migratory patterns (I get bored just typing "migratory patterns"), but his excellent storytelling pulled me into this book! Hoose charts the annual journey all rufa red knots take, and it's really astounding. Most go all the way from Tierra del Fuego (the very bottom of South America) all the way to the Canadian Arctic. At the same time, the story is made more interesting by Hoose's focus on one particular red knot:...more

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Jul 23, 2012 Kathy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-nonfiction

Hoose has taken a complex and many-faceted scientific investigation and made it easy to follow and understand telling the story of the scientific study of the intricately timed and remarkably long migration of red knots and their recent population crash through the probable journey of the longest-known survivor: B95. He describes major investigators and their work, beginning with the first-ever knot bandings which included this famous bird, going on through discovery of their various stopping pl...more

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Dec 28, 2012 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile, newbery-2013, non-fiction

Great message. I liked the focus on the scientists and other people working with the shorebirds, showing not only what we know but also how we came to know it; nicely done with profiles describing various people's backgrounds and personal connection to the red knots. It is a good way to inspire kids who are interested in science to take action and eventually pursue a career as a scientist, which it is not so easy to imagine how that happens when you are young.

There were also some very beautiful...more

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Apr 11, 2013 Josiah rated it 2 of 5 stars

"Each species with which we share the earth is a success story. Each of our cohabitants has evolved an ingenious set of life strategies, and made them work. To live on an earth without fascinating, often beautiful creatures would be to live on a lesser earth. The trick is not to let them slip away, but to understand and help them on their terms."

—Moonbird: A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95, P. 113

The battle over natural conservation is often a hotly debated one, with those on eit...more

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Dec 18, 2012 Ariel Cummins rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction, ya, tween-tactic, best-of-the-best-challenge-2013

Moonbird is a shining example of how amazing children's and teen nonfiction can be. Tons of beautiful photographs, maps, and informational asides dot this text that covers all the aspects of how red knot rufas (a plucky little shorebird) migrate from pole to pole every year. I really enjoyed the emphasis on the scientific process (how do we know that birds stop in certain spots? how can we tell which birds are which?) and the narrative created around B95, one of the oldest and most famous rufas...more

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Jan 03, 2013 Joella www.cinjoella.com rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, birds, young-adult, nature, travel, yalsa-best-of-the-best-2013

I read this book as part of the YALSA’s 2013 Nonfiction Reading Challenge.

This is a book about the journey of one particular rufa red knot, a shorebird. This particular shorebird flies from the Southern tip of South America to the top of the Hudson Bay and back again every year. And since he was tagged in 1995, scientists have a rough estimate of how old he is. And they have seen and tracked him year after year making the incredible journey. So, they know that he is a moonbird–a bird that has fl...more

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Mar 24, 2013 Charles rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-hub-reading-challenge

I am not a birder by anyone's stretch of fancy, but I really enjoyed Moonbird. The story of scientists gradually gathering more information and sharing it cross-country to really understand the migration patterns of the rufa red knot was really interesting. Sidebars and illustrations are used effectively throughout, and while sometimes repetitive, the narrative effectively takes you on the journey, both of the rufa as it returns to its arctic mating ground every year, as well as the journey of t...more

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Dec 29, 2012 Shazzt added it

Shelves: ya, non-fiction

I picked this up because I saw it recommended by Donalyn Miller. It is the fascinating story of the rufa red knot that migrate from the bottom of South America to the Arctic and back each year. The Moonbird (aka B95)of the title is a bird that was first tagged in 1995 and which was still alive in 2011. They call it the Moonbird because they have calculated that it will have flown the distance to the moon and back in its lifetime. It has become a bit of a bird celebrity. The book describes the jo...more

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About Phillip M. Hoose

Phillip Hoose is the widely-acclaimed author of books, essays, stories, songs, and articles, including the National Book Award winning book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice.

He is also the author of the multi-award winning title, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, the National Book Award Finalist We Were There Too!: Young People in U.S. History, and the Christopher Award-winning manual for...more

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We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History

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“Each species with which we share the earth is a success story. Each of our cohabitants has evolved an ingenious set of life strategies, and made them work. To live on an earth without fascinating, often beautiful creatures would be to live on a lesser earth. The trick is not to let them slip away, but to understand and help them on their terms.” — 1 person liked it

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