This unassuming picture book by Robert Bahr is excellent. Written in 1982, it has the quality of an older science reader-type book, but it captures the more modern event of the 1977 blizzard at the Buffalo Zoo in New York.
“You know what a zoo is like in the summer – a friendly place where you can see all kinds of animals and birds. Have you ever wondered what happens in winter?”
This is a great opening. First, we invite the reader into something that they are likely familiar with – a zoo. But then we ask if the reader has considered how different this familiar thing might be in the winter.
“This true story tells you what happened in 1977 at the zoo in Buffalo, New York. On January 28, as the animal keepers made their rounds, the sky grew strangely dark. The temperatures dropped more than thirty degrees – to well below freezing – in less than ten minutes. Suddenly snow fell thick and fast. The wind whipped it around in big, white, ever-changing drifts.”
What reader would not be intrigued by this scene setting? Who wouldn’t be curious about what comes next?
“Ducks, and swans, and geese were getting trapped in their pond as the water started to freeze. Ice was forming on their wings . . . . The birds were rushed inside and wrapped in towels. The keepers working in their van held one, two, or even three birds under their jackets, to warm gradually. If they had warmed the waterfowl more quickly, the birds would have died of shock.”
The story goes on to tell more of the problems and the ways in which the keepers worked to save the animals. But then, the focus shifts.
“The thick-pelted buffalo hasn’t moved since the storm started . . . the buffalo were covered on top by blankets of snow. It actually kept them warm! The steam from their nostrils rose like the smoke of many fires, creating openings in the snow so that they could breathe.”
And, “The three California sea lions had a holiday that night. How they barked! They played so vigorously in their pond that the water couldn’t freeze, even in the sub-zero weather.”
This exciting and interesting true story is not only fun but intellectually satisfying. Children of all interests are bound to think that this one is worth listening to as they cuddle with mom or dad on the couch.
This book is out of print but available from Amazon and used sites. And, it is available to read for free on Internet Archive.
Here is a link to this book at Biblioguides