A Loon Alone

April 1, 2002
Author and artist fluidly combine a glimpse of nature's pecking order and a cautionary tale in this attractive volume about a loon chick separated from and ultimately reunited with its mother. "On a lake in the Maine woods, two loons a mother and chick were swimming together." But the young bird soon lags behind. Young readers will identify with the loon chick's distraction as he engages in innocent fun: "Sometimes, he would dive and bring up a smooth, white stone in his dark grey bill. It was play but also practice for catching fish someday." However, his antics draw unwanted attention from a snapping turtle; his mother spies the predator and scares the turtle away. Sycks's finely detailed illustrations, rendered in earth-tones, shows the loon nestling beside cattails and a fallen tree branch as camouflage. Intricate pencil strokes reveal the chick's wispy down with scientific accuracy. Love narrates the proceedings without anthropomorphizing the creatures, and brings the book to a reassuring conclusion: "Kwuk, kwuk," calls mother loon, signaling that it's safe for her chick to come out. Ages 4-7.