Friday, January 29, 2010

13 - Winter's Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned to Swim Again; Hatkoff

 
A sucker for all of God's helpless creatures, when I heard about Winter's Tail, I decided to pick this book up from the library.  It was such a touching story. For those of you who have not heard about this amazingly resilient dolphin, here is what actually happened.  

On December 10, 2005 a baby dolphin, about 2-3 months old was spotted in Mosquito Lagoon, Florida with lobster trap ropes wrapped around it's tail and mouth. The fisherman who helped rescue the dolphin, later named "Winter" was Jim Savage. Realizing that the injuries to the creature were serious, he contacted fish and wildlife conservationists who responded and took the frightened, injured dolphin on a (3) hour journey to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium to mend. Although,  the dolphin did lose her tail, she was left with a stump which was later fitted with a prosthetic sleeve and tail enabling her to swim again. The last report I read indicated that Winter (4) years later is still thriving in her closely monitored environment. If you are ever in the Clearwater, FL area, you can visit Winter at the Aquarium.

The authors of this wonderful inspirational and beautifully illustrated book are Craig Hatkoff  and his daughters Julianna and Isabella. (Ages 4 - 8) RECOMMENDED - 4.5/5 stars (Library Book)

8 comments:

  1. The thing I really like about books like these is that they show how kind people can be. Any of the people along this dolphin's journey could have just given up and not invested their most likely limited resources to help Winter. It warms the heart to see people caring!

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  2. I could not agree more Kristen. Even though it was a sad situation, it's so inspiring in times like these to see something like this.

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  3. I picked up this one at the National Book Festival and my kids have really enjoyed it. Great review!

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  4. I hadn't heard of Winter before, I'm ashamed to say. Her story does sound amazing, especially hearing about those who rescued her. In a world so full of negativity, it's nice to be reminded that there are people out there who have good hearts. I'm so glad she was rescued and is doing well.

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  5. I thought this was a touching story, and I loved looking at the pictures. Winter is so cute.

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  6. Where do you keep finding these heartwarming animal books from. You know I am going to want to read this one too.

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  7. Viv, I frequently browse the Children's shelves of our library. There are so many great kids books out there as well.

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  8. Awww, this looks so good! I love that it's illustrated with help from his daughters :)

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