Booby Hatch by Betsy Lewin

Bibliography:

Lewin,Betsy. Booby Hatch. New York: Clarion Books a Houghton Mifflin Company imprint. ISBN 0-395-68703-9



Plot Summary:

Booby Hatch is written and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. This is book is a very short story that shows the life cycle of a blue -footed booby named Pepe. Pepe is a seabird that lives on the one of the Galapagos Islands. This story starts off with him in the egg and his parents waiting for him to hatch. When he hatches his parents are their ready to care for him. They feed him and nature him until it is time for him to be on his own. They list all of the predators that he is afraid of such as "big, hungry frigate birds" and "sharped eyed hawks" because at this time Pepe is white and fuzzy and he feet have not turned blue yet. Then one days he not white and fuzzy anymore and he feet are now blue, he sees other boobies and flaps his wings and is strong enough to flew away with them. later Pepe meets Tina and they curtsies and bows at one another, as well as dance. They find them a nest and the life cycle of the booby repeats itself again.



Critical Analysis:

Betsy Lewin's book Booby Hatch is beautifully illustrated. I could take anyone of the pages and frame them to have lovely art work for my walls. The colors are soft watered colored shades of blue, white, red , black and brown. These soft colors leaves one feeling warm and secure. Betsy Lewin allows the readers to be Pepe because she writes the story through Pepe's eyes. The first things Pepe sees when he hatches are "a pair of bright blue feet." The readers can picture in his or her mind Pepe's eyes opening and seeing the bright blue feet, leaving a feeling of security. Pepe is white and fuzzy when he is born, in the book he looks soft and gentle, giving a picture of how helpless he is. While he is still white and fuzzy Lewin shows how helpless and frighten he is. His parents have to physically feed him and the books shows all the dangers above his head up in the sky. His parents have to look down over him to keep him safe from the "big, hungry frigate birds" and "the sharped-eyed hawks."



Review Excerpt(s):

Industry Reviews"Short on science but long on charm, this is a great book to read aloud to younger children. Grown-ups and kids alike will enjoy Lewin's whimsical watercolors of sea lions, crabs and iguanas, and the wonderful depiction of the boobies' courtship dance."San Francisco Chronicle Book Review - Jill Sapinsley Mooney (12/24/1995)



Connection:

Betsy Lewin's book Booby Hatch will make for a good science lesson. One could have the students go through the life cycle of a Booby. This books also has a picture of the Galapagos Islands at the end. Students could use this page to choose one of the islands to research and share with the other students. They could research other animals on these islands and go through he life span for each of them.