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First there was Winter's Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again (a companion book to the movie, Dolphin Tale) that detailed the rescue and rehabilitation of the baby dolphin, Winter. Now there is Hope for Winter: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship.


Yates, David, Craig Hatkoff, Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff.
2014. Hope for Winter: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship. New York: Scholastic.
(Advance Reader Copy)

Anyone who has seen the movie, Dolphin Tale, knows the story of Winter, the rescued dolphin fitted with a prosthetic tail.  Now, in the book Hope for Winter (and in the upcoming Dolphin Tale 2 movie), people will learn of Hope, another bottlenose dolphin rescued in circumstances remarkably similar to those of Winter's, and destined to bring them together.

In simple language, this paperback picture book tells the story of Hope's rescue and new life at the aquarium,

     When the cast and crew finished filming Dolphin Tale, they threw a party at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. They were happily celebrating, when they received an urgent call —a baby dolphin was on her way to the aquarium.  She was very sick and might not survive the trip.  A group of veterinarians, dolphin trainers, and volunteers left the party and started getting prepared.  When the baby dolphin arrived, it was clear that every minute counted.

By Kate Farquhar-Thomson

I look forward to the last week of May every year and 2014 is no exception. To what am I referring? My annual pilgrimage to Hay-on-Wye of course.

Every year since I can remember, I find myself in England’s famous book town for the excellent Hay Festival. Now in its 27th year the eponymous book festival can be found nestling under canvass for 11 days in the Black Mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Due to the breadth of our publishing at OUP we are lucky enough to field a great ‘team’ of authors every year at this internationally renowned festival and this year is no exception.

Sharing the Green Room with the likes of Stephen Fry, Ruby Wax, Monty Don, and James Lovelock, this year, will be Ian Goldin, Professor of Globalization and Development and Director of the Oxford Martin School at the University of Oxford, who will be speaking about ‘Meeting Global Challenges’. This talk kicks off a series of three talks inspired by the new book Is the Planet Full?  Edited by Goldin, the book has 10 contributors and later in the week talks will also pull out some of the books’ major themes such as ‘The End of Population Growth?’ addressed by Professor Sarah Harper, Co-Director, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing, ‘Can the World Feed 10 Billion People (Sustainably & Equitably)’ discussed by Charles Godfrey and with Yavinder Malhi who will be looking at the question ‘Bigger than the Biosphere? A metabolic perspective on our human-dominated planet’.

The Hay Festival site. Photo by Finn Beales.

A specialist in ancient Greek history, Professor Paul Cartledge will be talking about his latest book After Thermopylae. Illustrating the diversity of the OUP’s contribution to the festival this year and offering something for everyone, the week continues with Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones discussing spies and spying; John van Wyhe, who is flying in from Singapore, will talk about Alfred Russell Wallace of whom last year saw the 100 year anniversary of his death; Justin Gregg, who knows a thing or two about dolphins, asks Are Dolphins Really Smart? For the scientists among us Professor Peter Atkins will surely answer the question What is Chemistry? in a fully illustrated talk on the subject.

Frequent visitors to Hay will be familiar with David & Hilary Crystal who have entertained many a festival goer over the years and this year they plan to take us on a literary tour through the UK looking at how the language was shaped by Wordsmiths and Warriors in history.

There is not much Lawrence Freedman, Professor of War Studies at King’s College London, doesn’t know about Strategy. And his latest book on the topic gives us a panoramic synthesis of the role of strategy throughout world civilization, from ancient Greece through the nuclear age. He was appointed Official Historian of the Falklands Campaign in 1997 and more recently, in June 2009, served as a member of the official inquiry into Britain and the 2003 Iraq War.

During the final weekend of the festival Thomas Weber will bring insight and detail on Hitler’s formative experiences as a soldier on the Western Front when discussing Hitler’s First War and Julian Thomas will discuss ‘The Dorstone Dig‘ where over the last couple of summers, the archaeological team have uncovered two 6,000-year-old burial mounds and the remains of two huge halls that appear to have been ritually burned down.

I, for one, will be looking forward to being entertained and educated during my week at Hay and I hope you are too!

Kate Farquhar-Thomson is Head of Publicity at OUP in Oxford.

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Image credit: Hay Festival site. Photo by Finn Beales.

The post Looking forward to the Hay Festival 2014 appeared first on OUPblog.

        

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. The Adventures of Max, Book 1: Little Dude by Michelle Hennessy illustrations by Luke Harland 3 Stars . . From Press Release:  Max always dreamed of surfing.  Every day he’d go down to the beach and watch all of the other surfers riding the waves and having tons of fun.  The sun was going …

You might perhaps know that I write books about mermaids. If you do, you might possibly also know that I have a new book out this month. In fact, this week! It's called Emily Windsnap and the Land of the Midnight Sun. It is the fifth book in a series about a completely ordinary, modern girl called Emily Windsnap, who just happens to discover during a school swimming lesson that when she goes in water she becomes a mermaid.

People often ask me where I get the inspiration for these books. Well, this month, I would simply like to share something with you which I believe answers that question better than I could ever do with words.

It's something that I experienced a couple of weeks ago and was one of the most magical evenings of my life. I made a video of it, which I've been showing to as many people as possible because I just want to share this beautiful moment. So apologies if you've seen it before. Actually, scratch that, I make no apologies for giving you the chance to watch it twice!

So, get yourself a cuppa, or a bar of chocolate - or both. Settle down in your chair, get comfy, click the link below and treat yourself to a magical four minutes.

Huge Pod of Beautiful Dolphins in St Ives Bay

Love,
Liz x

Find out more about Liz (& this month's Emily Windsnap Friendship Festival!) on her Website
Follow Liz on Twitter
Join Liz's Facebook page

*Non-fiction chapter book for kids 7 to 10 years old
*8-year-old girl is the focus of the book
*Rating: What an inspirational book! Kids will love Katrina and Winter: Partners in Courage. It’s one of those stories that teachers/parents can use to help children who are struggling with almost any self-esteem issue. Besides, who doesn’t love a dolphin story?

Short, short summary:

So, what do I do with this book?

1. After reading this book, ask children to journal about something that bothers them about themselves and how they can face this head on like Katrina and Winter did. What is something children have been afraid to do, but they did it anyway? Or what is something they are going to try? Children who are not good writers can use pictures to explain their thoughts.

2. Explore The Pier Aquarium website, which is where Winter lives. If possible, ask someone with a prosthetic leg to come to your classroom and speak about it. Bring the world of the book into your classroom.

3. Ask students to write a letter to Katrina and/or Winter, explaining what they liked about their stories and what children now feel inspired to do.

Dewey: 639.97








Winter's Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again told by Juliana Hatkoff, Isabella Hatkoff, and Craig Hatkoff. Scholastic, 2009 (publisher supplied review copy)


The Hatkoffs' Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship was a popular choice for school libraries with its theme of survival and friendship between two unlikely companions, a baby hippo and a giant tortoise.

Like Owen the hippo, Winter the baby dolphin, was also in distress when she was found, entangled in the ropes of a crab trap. Although she was rescued and well cared for, Winter eventually lost her tail because of her injuries. Kevin Carroll and the experts from Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics worked to design a prosthesis for Winter so she could swim properly and avoid damage to her backbone. The need for the prosthesis was medical, for Winter's health--not for appearance. I appreciated that this point was emphasized

Winter has generated a great deal of interest among children and veterans who have prostheses or other medical devices. Whether the need for these devices is the result of accident, illness or a grievous war injury, coping with the aftermath can be challenging and emotionally difficult.

There is reassurance in a story of adults who will go to extraordinary lengths to care for these animals. A child can see themselves in both roles, the child needing help and the kind and caring expert who provides it.

I was interested in reviewing this title because of my library "dolphin girls." Every year there are one or two girls who want ot read and reread every nonfiction book in the school library on dolphins. This book is an excellent choice for them. It includes facts and information about these mammals, their physiology, their care, socialization and training.

The story is well reported and there is no anthropomorphizing of the dolphin. In fact, Hatkoff emphasizes that humans cannot know what Winter is thinking. Winter's story is well documented with full color photos including some very interesting photographs of the prosthetic tail.

Additional background on the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and Kevin Carroll and Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics is included. Interestingly, Hanger was founded in 1861, during the American Civil War.

The Hatkoffs have found a nice publishing niche here with true stories of animal rescue. The focus on the use of prostheses in this one could be timely for children whose relatives are injured veterans. Doing whatever is necessary to help these heros is the very l

In the flat strike of afternoon sun, we were escorted (first slowly, then not) into the bay by a rubber-boat captain named Abby. He promised dolphins. He told stories about strand feedings—dolphins who assaulted the muddy margins of low-tide creeks with gang slams against miniature fish. It happens nowhere in the world but here, he said, and he said, too, that only a privileged few have seen it. We wanted to see it. We did. Strand feedings of a violent magnitude—600 pound dolphins throwing their bodies to the shore.

Afterward we were out on the open sea, or, at least, the wider, deeper bay, following in the wake of a shrimp boat. We were a small thing among the bigger beasts of the sea–the 1,000 pound dolphins with their war scars, their scratch marks, their torn-into fins, their babies. They came near enough for touching—almost. They nudged beneath the underbelly of the boat. They roared at us from either side, and the camera was not fast enough.

Except for once or twice.

Our idyllic three and a half days have come to their end.

But oh, it was something. Oh, it was.

And if you ever have a secret urge to spend a few hours with dolphins, ask for Abby at South Beach, Commander Zodiac. He's the real thing. He still loves the job he does.

I was standing on the shore. They came this near. They scissored, circled, returned. What keeps us alive? What keeps us afloat? We each have our answers.

I require the honest exchange of the honest right now. The conversation that means something. The person who says, What if?, or, What now? I have, and I make, little room for the nothing nothings. I want every single moment to count.

Imagine what that does to those who know me.