Description
Author & Illustrator: Caren Loebel-Fried
Target: 4-8 years
Format: Hard Cover
Pages: 40
Dimensions: 9″ x 11″
First in a new CLPG children’s series that focuses on a fascinating bird species, this story uses native folk art and authentic style, evoking the culture and habitats where the bird lives.
A Perfect Day for an Albatross, by Caren Loebel-Fried, an award-winning author and artist from Hawai’i, sweeps you into an albatross’s world of wind, rolling seas, boisterous dancing, and their intense commitment to one another and their nestlings.
Overview
Set on Midway Atoll, where 72 percent of the world’s Laysan Albatrosses make their nests, Mālie, an albatross, must protect her egg until her mate returns. Join Mālie as she dances, hunts, and soars over the ocean swells. Block print art with flowing watercolors makes this title a glorious treat for the eyes, as well as the heart.
A Perfect Day for an Albatross is compatible with Bird QR for streaming sounds, video, and other content. Back matter includes a Bird QR link to watch live albatrosses on an HD cam in Hawai’i.
Reviews
“A Perfect Day for an Albatross is a perfect book for any child you love, a book of generous, inspired vision. It’s a beautiful story about these legendary birds in their ocean paradise.”
— Carl Safina, author of Eye of the Albatross, and Beyond Words; What Animals Think and Feel.
“An outstanding description of the life cycle of the Laysan albatross told as a first-person narrative from the perspective of Malie, a female albatross. A wonderful introduction to a magnificent sea bird, this vibrantly illustrated story belongs on every shelf.”
— SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL
“Loebel-Fried’s captivating text is full of vivid descriptions and fun-to-say words that delight the ear and tongue… Readers learn an amazing amount about the lives and behaviors of the birds… The book’s visual images are every bit as stunning”
— American Birding Association
About the Author and Illustrator
Caren Loebel-Fried is an award-winning author and artist from Volcano, Hawai’i. Birds, conservation, and the natural world are the foundations for her work. Caren has created seven storybooks to date, including Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits and Lono and the Magical Land Beneath the Sea, which use the ancient art of block printing, taught to her by her mother. Caren’s books have been recipients of the American Folklore Society’s Aesop Prize for Children’s Folklore and the Hawai’i Book Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Po’okela Awards.
In addition to books, Caren creates iconic, educational art for local and national conservation organizations and government agencies, including the United States Fish & Wildlife Service, Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Kilauea Point Natural History Association, and Conservation Council for Hawai’i in the Hawaiian rainforest, she lives among several native bird species, but lately seabirds have captured her imagination. Caren spent five weeks on Midway Atoll counting and researching albatrosses, and has been visiting other locations where new work is being done to help seabirds. Caren’s aim is to bring people, especially children, closer to the natural world with the hope that they will want to help care for it.
About the Art
The art in this book is made with hand-colored block prints. The technique is similar to Hawaiian ‘ohe kāpala. In ancient times, women carved patterns into strips cut from the inside bark of bamboo plants. Then bamboo “stamps” were dipped into natural dyes and pressed onto bark cloth in repeating patterns. The prints in this book are made from rubber block prints, printed with black ink, and then painted with washes of colored inks.
Watch the trailer
