Aliens from Earth: When Animals and Plants Invade Other Ecosystems (Revised Edition)

by Mary Batten, Beverly Doyle (Illustrator)

Overview

What happens to the environment when alien plants or animals get there by accident?

Award-winning writer Mary Batten introduces readers to the serious and ongoing environmental problems caused when alien plants and animals (or invasive species) are introduced into an ecosystem accidentally or deliberately. Describing various examples―from the release of the gypsy moth into the United States to the introduction of rabbits to Australia―Batten uses clear, readable text to show how these foreign intrusions have disturbed the delicate balance of local ecosystems.

Nature and animal art specialist Beverly Doyle contributes eye-catching visuals "that almost seem to jump off the pages," and back matter includes a glossary and list of ideas that provide more information and ways to minimize human impact on local environments.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561459032
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	03/01/2016
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	36
Sales rank:	1,051,286
Product dimensions:	10.38(w) x 9.36(h) x 0.12(d)
Lexile:	1140L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Mary Batten is an award-winning writer for television, film, and publishing. Her many writing projects have taken her into tropical rainforests, astronomical observatories, scientific laboratories, and medical research centers. She is the author of numerous articles on science topics as well as a number of children's books. Batten was nominated for an Emmy for her work on the Children's Television Workshop's science series 3-2-1-CONTACT. In the 1990s she worked with The Cousteau Society, where she acquired a lifelong love of the ocean. She lives in Virginia.

Beverly Doyle graduated from Framingham State College with a major in fine arts and continued her studies at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. A fine artist who specializes in animal illustration, she has illustrated several children's books. She lives in Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

"This visually striking and readable title describes what happens to ecosystems when alien plants or animals are introduced by accident or intention. . . The examples throughout are thought-provoking, the illustrations outstanding, and the concluding words on steps to take to keep aliens out are helpful and practical. Doyle, who specializes in environmental art, provides handsome, double-paged portraits of animals both native and new to their natural habitat, using a footnote to clue readers into which are which. Fascinating." —Kirkus Reviews

"From the book title and first line of text to the information-packed, full-page color illustrations, this overview of ecological missteps is nonstop intriguing. . . Lively personal-interest reading, this picture book for older children is fast moving, clear, and well detailed." —Booklist

"The spreads are beautifully illustrated with animals and plants that almost seem to jump off the pages. Everything depicted is labeled, and a helpful key designates which ones are native, endangered or threatened, alien, or extinct. . . Visually appealing, it should capture the interest of browsers." —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

Gr 3-5-This book explains the devastating effects of nonnative plant and animal species on local ecosystems. Batten covers the many different ways that alien invasions can occur, telling the stories of gypsy moths, kudzu, starlings, fire ants, zebra mussels, and many other aggressive invaders. The text ends with steps that readers can take to stop the encroachment of nonnative species. The spreads are beautifully illustrated with animals and plants that almost seem to jump off the pages. Everything depicted is labeled, and a helpful key designates which ones are native, endangered or threatened, alien, or extinct. Because it lacks the navigational tools necessary for locating information such as page numbers or an index, this book will be of limited use to researchers. Visually appealing, it should capture the interest of browsers.-Laurie von Mehren, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Parma, OH Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The familiar starling, gypsy moth, and kudzu vine are all alien to North America, wreaking havoc on established plant and animal ecosystems and threatening biodiversity. This visually striking and readable title describes what happens to ecosystems when alien plants or animals are introduced by accident or intention. The author explains why island environments are especially vulnerable, with examples from Australia, overwhelmed with 500 million rabbits, and Hawaii, where domestic pigs damaged fern ponds producing breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Young readers may be surprised to learn that the gypsy moth was brought to North America to develop a local silk industry and Brazilian beekeepers imported African bees to improve local honeybee stock; both with disastrous results. Some species come as tagalongs: the zebra mussel, clogging the Great Lakes; fire ant, damaging crops and injuring livestock in ten southern states; and caulerpa algae, destroying sea life in the Mediterranean seabed. The examples throughout are thought-provoking, the illustrations outstanding, and the concluding words on steps to take to keep aliens out are helpful and practical. Doyle, who specializes in environmental art, provides handsome, double-paged portraits of animals both native and new to their natural habitat, using a footnote to clue readers into which are which. Fascinating. (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews