Beauty and the Beak: How Science, Technology, and a 3d-Printed Beak Rescued a Bald Eagle
by Deborah Lee Rose (Author)
Beauty and the Beak is a new, nonfiction picture book about Beauty, the wild bald eagle that made world news when she was illegally shot, rescued, and received a pioneering, 3D-printed prosthetic beak.
Beauty and the Beak follows Beauty close up from the moment she uses her baby beak to emerge from her egg, through her hunt when she uses her powerful adult beak to feed herself, to the day her beak is shot off leaving her helpless. This brave and heart-lifting story continues through her rescue, into the months of engineering her 3D-printed prosthetic beak and intense hours of her beak surgery, to the moment she takes the first drink of water by herself with her new beak.
Beauty and the Beak captures the spirit and courage of this amazing bird and America's national symbol--whose species was nearly wiped out by human activity, only to be restored and thriving because of environmental conservation and human compassion. This book will resonate with stories of other animals endangered or in need, and with stories of humans, from young children to military veterans, in need of prosthetic limbs, who are being given new lives with state-of-the-art devices. The book includes expanded information about bald eagles as a top predator species, their near extinction in most of the U.S., their successful reintroduction back into the wild, and efforts to conserve this critical raptor species today.
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Kirkus Reviews
Offer this heartwarming example of animal rehabilitation to fans of Winter’s Tail, by Juliana, Isabella, and Craig Hatkoff (2009), and similar stories.
School Library Journal
Gr 3-5—Rose and Veltkamp tell the inspiring story of an Alaskan bald eagle, later named Beauty, who was shot in the face by a poacher and lost most of her upper beak. She was unable to eat, drink, or preen and would have died had she not been rescued. Because her beak didn't regenerate, Beauty eventually made her way to a raptor center in Idaho, where she received continuous care. Coauthor Veltkamp, a raptor biologist and rehabilitator, worked with engineers, a dentist, and other animal experts to fabricate an artificial beak, using a 3-D printer. After arduous testing, an appropriate beak was created and attached. Beauty could now drink and eat on her own. Outstanding full-page photographs accompany this uplifting account. Many resources for further study and additional information on the life cycle of eagles, their habitats, and their near extinction and recovery are appended. VERDICT Highly valuable for elementary schoolers as a lesson in empathy; an inspiring addition to STEM collections.—Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, formerly at Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
In a remarkable wildlife rescue story with echoes of 2009's Winter's Tale, an eagle injured by a hunter comes under the care of biologist and coauthor Veltkamp. At her Idaho raptor center, she concocts a plan to repair Beauty's beak, which has been reduced to a stump, using a 3-D-printed prosthetic. The tense narrative recounts how Veltkamp enlisted the help of a dentist and engineer to design and attach the new beak: "Just when they were ready to glue the beak on, Beauty started to struggle. Her wings were so strong, she burst open the wrap around them." Readers will be fascinated by the photographs of Beauty before, during, and after the beak attachment, and although the story concludes abruptly, following the successful surgery, substantial end notes explore Beauty's progress, bald eagles in general, and the threats they face. Ages 5-12. (Aug.)
Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
Deborah Lee Rose is the award-winning, internationally published author of Scientists Get Dressed and Beauty and the Beak: How Science, Technology, and a 3D-Printed Beak Rescued a Bald Eagle, both published by Persnickety Press. Beauty and the Beak won the AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books, the Bank Street College Cook Prize for Best STEM Picture Book, and the California Reading Association Eureka! Gold Award for Nonfiction. Her beloved classics include The Twelve Days of Winter, The Twelve Days of Kindergarten and Into the A, B, Sea, a NY Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing book (a quarter million copies sold). Her environmental folktale The People Who Hugged the Trees is read and performed around the world, and included in language arts/reading collections and programs in the US, Canada, UK and South Africa. Deborah was Director of Communications for the ALA/AASL honored, NSF/Oracle-funded STEM education website Howtosmile.org, senior science writer for UC Berkeley's renowned Lawrence Hall of Science, and a National Science Writing Fellow of the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing. She graduated from Cornell University and lives in the Washington, DC area. Visit her at www.deborahleerose.com.
