This fascinating picture book tells the unique, quirky, and true story of how one man in Idaho saved 76 beavers from destroying a town by parachuting them into uninhabited wetlands.
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.
Kristen Tracy has written twelve novels for young adults and young readers, including Lost It, Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus, Hung Up, and Project Unpopular. She won the Emily Dickinson First Book Award from the Poetry Foundation for her collection Half-Hazard. Visit her online at kristentracy.com, and follow her on Twitter @kristen_tracy.
View titles by Kristen Tracy
Luisa Uribe is an illustrator living in Bogotá, Colombia. She was the 2018 recipient of the Society of Illustrators Dilys Evans Founder’s Award for The Vast Wonder of the World (Millbrook Press, Lerner Publishing Group), and has illustrated titles with HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Albert Whitman, and many others. Her art has been featured in Iberoamérica Ilustra, a catalog showcasing the best work by Spanish-speaking illustrators. Luisa’s primary passion is children’s books, although she is regularly inspired by the world around her and seeks ways to include these observations in her illustrations.
View titles by Luisa Uribe
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★ "This book explores ingenuity, solving problems, group efforts, and perfecting an idea. The art.... is soft and engaging. Reading this book prior to engaging in experiments is like providing a blueprint for the scientific method." —School Library Journal, starred review
"A celebration of an early environmental success." —Kirkus Reviews
"The presentation of the story [is] a heroic one....will prompt discussion around environmental conservation and human/animal coexistence." —The Bulletin
This fascinating picture book tells the unique, quirky, and true story of how one man in Idaho saved 76 beavers from destroying a town by parachuting them into uninhabited wetlands.
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.
Creators
Kristen Tracy has written twelve novels for young adults and young readers, including Lost It, Camille McPhee Fell Under the Bus, Hung Up, and Project Unpopular. She won the Emily Dickinson First Book Award from the Poetry Foundation for her collection Half-Hazard. Visit her online at kristentracy.com, and follow her on Twitter @kristen_tracy.
View titles by Kristen Tracy
Luisa Uribe is an illustrator living in Bogotá, Colombia. She was the 2018 recipient of the Society of Illustrators Dilys Evans Founder’s Award for The Vast Wonder of the World (Millbrook Press, Lerner Publishing Group), and has illustrated titles with HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Albert Whitman, and many others. Her art has been featured in Iberoamérica Ilustra, a catalog showcasing the best work by Spanish-speaking illustrators. Luisa’s primary passion is children’s books, although she is regularly inspired by the world around her and seeks ways to include these observations in her illustrations.
View titles by Luisa Uribe
Rights
Available for sale exclusive:
• Afghanistan
• Aland Islands
• Albania
• Algeria
• Andorra
• Angola
• Anguilla
• Antarctica
• Antigua/Barbuda
• Argentina
• Armenia
• Aruba
• Australia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Bahamas
• Bahrain
• Bangladesh
• Barbados
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Belize
• Benin
• Bermuda
• Bhutan
• Bolivia
• Bonaire, Saba
• Bosnia Herzeg.
• Botswana
• Bouvet Island
• Brazil
• Brit.Ind.Oc.Ter
• Brit.Virgin Is.
• Brunei
• Bulgaria
• Burkina Faso
• Burundi
• Cambodia
• Cameroon
• Canada
• Cape Verde
• Cayman Islands
• Centr.Afr.Rep.
• Chad
• Chile
• China
• Christmas Islnd
• Cocos Islands
• Colombia
• Comoro Is.
• Congo
• Cook Islands
• Costa Rica
• Croatia
• Cuba
• Curacao
• Cyprus
• Czech Republic
• Dem. Rep. Congo
• Denmark
• Djibouti
• Dominica
• Dominican Rep.
• Ecuador
• Egypt
• El Salvador
• Equatorial Gui.
• Eritrea
• Estonia
• Ethiopia
• Falkland Islnds
• Faroe Islands
• Fiji
• Finland
• France
• Fren.Polynesia
• French Guinea
• Gabon
• Gambia
• Georgia
• Germany
• Ghana
• Gibraltar
• Greece
• Greenland
• Grenada
• Guadeloupe
• Guam
• Guatemala
• Guernsey
• Guinea Republic
• Guinea-Bissau
• Guyana
• Haiti
• Heard/McDon.Isl
• Honduras
• Hong Kong
• Hungary
• Iceland
• India
• Indonesia
• Iran
• Iraq
• Ireland
• Isle of Man
• Israel
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• Jamaica
• Japan
• Jersey
• Jordan
• Kazakhstan
• Kenya
• Kiribati
• Kuwait
• Kyrgyzstan
• Laos
• Latvia
• Lebanon
• Lesotho
• Liberia
• Libya
• Liechtenstein
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macau
• Macedonia
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Malaysia
• Maldives
• Mali
• Malta
• Marshall island
• Martinique
• Mauritania
• Mauritius
• Mayotte
• Mexico
• Micronesia
• Minor Outl.Ins.
• Moldavia
• Monaco
• Mongolia
• Montenegro
• Montserrat
• Morocco
• Mozambique
• Myanmar
• Namibia
• Nauru
• Nepal
• Netherlands
• New Caledonia
• New Zealand
• Nicaragua
• Niger
• Nigeria
• Niue
• Norfolk Island
• North Korea
• North Mariana
• Norway
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Palau
• Palestinian Ter
• Panama
• PapuaNewGuinea
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Philippines
• Pitcairn Islnds
• Poland
• Portugal
• Puerto Rico
• Qatar
• Reunion Island
• Romania
• Russian Fed.
• Rwanda
• S. Sandwich Ins
• Saint Martin
• Samoa,American
• San Marino
• SaoTome Princip
• Saudi Arabia
• Senegal
• Serbia
• Seychelles
• Sierra Leone
• Singapore
• Sint Maarten
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Solomon Islands
• Somalia
• South Africa
• South Korea
• South Sudan
• Spain
• Sri Lanka
• St Barthelemy
• St. Helena
• St. Lucia
• St. Vincent
• St.Chr.,Nevis
• St.Pier,Miquel.
• Sth Terr. Franc
• Sudan
• Suriname
• Svalbard
• Swaziland
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Syria
• Tadschikistan
• Taiwan
• Tanzania
• Thailand
• Timor-Leste
• Togo
• Tokelau Islands
• Tonga
• Trinidad,Tobago
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Turkmenistan
• Turks&Caicos Is
• Tuvalu
• US Virgin Is.
• USA
• Uganda
• Ukraine
• Unit.Arab Emir.
• United Kingdom
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Vanuatu
• Vatican City
• Venezuela
• Vietnam
• Wallis,Futuna
• West Saharan
• Western Samoa
• Yemen
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
Photos
Praise
★ "This book explores ingenuity, solving problems, group efforts, and perfecting an idea. The art.... is soft and engaging. Reading this book prior to engaging in experiments is like providing a blueprint for the scientific method." —School Library Journal, starred review
"A celebration of an early environmental success." —Kirkus Reviews
"The presentation of the story [is] a heroic one....will prompt discussion around environmental conservation and human/animal coexistence." —The Bulletin
