25. The Prairie Builders

The Prairie Builders by Sneed B. Collard III (Houghton Miflin Co.) 2005

Genre

Non-fiction; Science

Honors

SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books Middle Grades 2006

Review

Collard details the construction of the Neal Smith National Wildlife Reserve in Iowa.  The park's aim is to rebuild some of the native prairie land.  The book especially highlights the work of scientists Pauline Drobney and Diane Debinski.  The prairies of Iowa had all but disappeared, and the land of the reserve had been used to farm corn and soybeans.  So, the first step in the project was to find seeds of native prairie plants.  Drobney helped find appropriate seeds and cultivate them.  She also supervised controlled burns to both provide hearty soil for the prairie plants and to destroy the non-native invaders (the native prairie plants are rooted so deeply that fire doesn't typically destroy them).  Debinski then helped to bring in butterflies -- in particular the Regal Fritillary (no small task as Regal Fritillary larvae only feed on violets and only one type of violet grows well in Iowa).  The Fritillary is useful for determining the health of the prairie land.  If Fritillaries are thriving, it is an indication that the prairie is also thriving.

Opinion

As all of the books in the "Scientists in the Field" series do, The Prairie Builders highlights how the work of individual scientists helps bring about important innovation in various fields of science.  This can be a great catalyst for young people.  It shows them the types of careers that are possible in science.  And by including photographs of the scientists, it helps humanize the work and make it tangible.  All of the books in the series are photo essays, so the big glossy pictures also help science appear to be quite appealing.

Ideas

The book would be great in a science class, showing the everyday work of scientists in the field.  That both scientists in the book are women is also encouraging because it can show female students and patrons that careers in science are a viable option.  The book would be great coupled with a program on creating a reserve or garden of local plants (as the students from Chicago are shown doing near the end of the book).