Manatee Winter, a Smithsonian Ocean Collection, is a lovely little tale about the daily life of a manatee and his mother. Along with the beautiful and realistic illustrations of undersea life, the migration process of manatees is presented through a young calf. He learns the ways of the manatees through his mother and why the migrate away from the cold water. For the theme, I would said this book is mainly an informative contemporary realistic fiction story that includes educational benefits in the fields of science and biology. It is helpful for children to understand the different lifestyles of animals and why they do the things they do to survive. I love this book because it is informative, but also engaging due to the personality given to the manatees. I would definitely include this book in my classroom. ( )

This is a book about how Manatee's survive in the winter. The book describes how Manatee's are almost extinct and how they are now protected. You will learn how Manatee's look for warmer waters to live in during the winter months. ( )

ISBN 1568990782 - While not exactly non-fiction, Manatee Winter is educational, which is always a plus. The involvement of the Smithsonian Institution is a good thing, too, but not quite good enough.

A mother manatee and her calf head to warmer waters for the winter, encountering the dangerous propellers of fishing boats along the way. One specific encounter separates the two, scaring Little Calf into weeds which he can't escape on his own. Mother must help him and continue encouraging him so that they can reach the safety of a warm spring, where Little Calf will meet other baby manatees for the first time.

Illustrator Steven James Petruccio did a very nice job; the problem isn't his work but the general boring-ness of the relatively accurate images. A manatee under water looks like a manatee under water and there are few images including anything else. In the back of the book, there is a list of "Points of Interest" that name pages where you can find specific things. For pages 22-23, it says "egret, red mangrove trees", but the egret's head is mostly cut off at the top of the page and the trees are represented only by roots. Author Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld did a very nice job, as well, and the book is best, in my opinion, as a vaguely educational text. As a storybook for young children, it's a little boring.

- AnnaLovesBooks ( )

This book is all about the lives of manatees. Manatees are creatures that live in spring water. This story tells about a young mother and her young manatee as they journey throughout the waters. It has a prologue that gives information on the lives of manatees. In the back of the book, the author gives more information about manatees along with a glossary and points of interest in the book.
When I live in Florida, we used to go to a park that had water going throughout trails, where you can experience watching manatees up close. It was a lot of fun. They are such beautiful animals, and the illustrator of this book does a good job capturing the serene beauty of them!!
I would have my class find new vocabulary terms throughout the story. ( Some are listed in the back of the book). Having students draw picture of manatees is also a good extension idea. ( )