Parrots Over Puerto Rico by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore
Look at this lush, beautiful collage cover by Susan L. Roth!
Parrots Over Puerto Rico won the 2014 Sibert Medal for the most distinguished informational book for children published in 2013. Its easy to see why.
Its wordless jacket, its striking vertical orientation, the tumbling waterfall in the center spread, and the half-hidden flashes of blue feathers on the last page all perfectly capture the energy of the text as it tells the story of the near-extinction and rescue of an iconic bird species. The reversal of what could have been a tragic process is accomplished through the efforts of scientists and governmental collaboration. The story takes place against the vast landscape of the island's history, no less, the two histories intertwined. It would appear almost impossible to take such a huge story and place it in 40 picture book pages, but the weaving of art and words achieves that end in this beautiful book. Back matter includes an afterword, a timeline of Puerto Rican history, and a list of sources.