Reviews for Las Serpientes

The average rating for Las Serpientes based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-23 00:00:00 Erin Saveall With an engaging, flowing narrative (quite textually dense, so definitely more for older children, and I actually believe even many adults would find the information presented enlightening), Dorothy Hinshaw-Patent's Garden of the Spirit Bear demonstrates, describes the development of and life in the Great Bear Rainforest of coastal British Columbia, Canada (including the ongoing and unfortunate threats to this region due to logging, actually, not simply logging, but basically, CLEAR CUTTING, destroying the rainforest). For while logging once consisted of carefully choosing specific trees to log, to fell, in modern times, not only is clear cutting generally the standard procedure, there is often no thought of replanting, and even if and when there is replanting, fast growing trees are usually chosen, so that the area might be harvested again and again (old growth rainforests, actually, old growth forests in general, are threatened, and not just in the Great Bear Rainforest of B.C., but globally). The Great Bear Rainforest is still beautiful, and is still vast to an extent, but it is endangered (and like many of the coastal rainforests of Western North America, the Great Bear Rainforest is also not as much in the public imagination as the more famous tropical rainforests of South America, and rather unfortunately, suffers due to this). The accompanying full page illustrations by Deborah Milton are evocative and descriptive, mirroring the text, showing the majesty of the rainforest, and its most famous denizen, the cream coloured Spirit Bear. Although the presented narrative would have worked just as well without the illustrations, the lush renditions augment the former (and even though the text is definitely more for older children, younger children would likely also love the detailed illustrations, which are rich in colour, detail and scope). An added and much appreciated bonus is the list of resources at the back, including websites (websites dedicated to protecting and saving this ecological treasure). And while I personally would have liked the list of books cited (the bibliography) to have been a bit clearer, with the books separated out into a list, the fact that the books appear is enough for me (far too often, engaging and informative non fiction offerings for children and teenagers are, for me, rendered somewhat limited, by the exclusion of relevant bibliographical information). At the time Garden of the Spirit Bear was written, things were looking really and truly bleak for the future of the Great Bear Rainforest. Although since the 1980s, there had been more and more efforts to protect this unique and ecologically important natural treasure, logging interests (and many of these are actually not Canadian, but foreign owned companies) have often seemingly trumped environmental concerns (and of course, loggers also do not want to lose their jobs, their careers, and logging companies have and still often continue to exploit this, to use the fears of loggers and their dependents of unemployment to promote their agendas of clearcutting, of harvesting as much timber as possible, even from environmentally sensitive areas, even from areas that are rainforest habitats and mostly old growth forest). In 2001, the government of BC agreed in principle that the Great Bear Rainforest needed some form of official protection, but at the time when this book was penned and published (in 2004), this was for the most part still mostly a dream and in the beginning, planning phases. In 2006, a comprehensive protection package and plan was announced. It was supposed to ban logging in 33% of the area, with a commitment by logging companies to increased ecosystem based management by 2009. And this has, to a certain extent, also fortunately happened, although the logging companies do still often try to harvest more than they should, especially with regard to older trees. And unfortunately, the area is currently in the news, as the proposed Northern Gateway Pipelines Project would, if approved, regularly bring crude oil tankers into the channels, the waters off of the rainforest's edge (with the associated concerns of potential crude oil leaks and spills). And thus, while there is, indeed, some good news with regard to protecting the Great Bear Rainforest, there are still threats, and vigilance continues to be of prime importance (and with the recent US election, lack of environmental concern could also and easily spill over into Canada, especially into BC, as Christy Clark's Liberals are actually to be seen more as Social Conservatives and thus have at best a rather careless attitude towards the environment and protecting the coastal rain forests).

Review # 2 was written on 2012-05-11 00:00:00 Dimitrios Dourmoussis Children's picture book introducing the nature preserve in Canada known as the Spirit Bear Preserve. Dorothy Hinshaw Patent does a thorough job of describing the habitat and life cycle of the Kermode or Spirit bear. Deep ecology of the salmon cycle and importance of both the tall trees above and the fungi below are woven into the story , as well as cultural and political issues relating to conservation. Very good for elementary units on Canada, bears, rain forest ecology.