cover image Swan Flyway: The Tundra Swan

Swan Flyway: The Tundra Swan

Dana Limpert. Soundprints, $11.95 (31pp) ISBN 978-0-924483-95-0

Licensed by the Smithsonian Institution, this volume in the Smithsonian Wild Heritage Collection gracefully documents the seasonal patterns of tundra swans (also known as whistling swans). Limpert's sturdy text reports on two swans and their eight-month-old cygnets. Stirred by a gentle March breeze, the family migrates from ``a bay called Chesapeake'' to the Canadian tundra; although the swans stop often, they continually outrun the edge of summer as it spreads north. Safely arriving, the swans separate: the cygnets are old enough to care for themselves, and their parents build and guard a new nest. The cycle begins again: the swans feed their young, mature, molt and, at last, migrate back to the Chesapeake in autumn. Floating in soft, powdery textures, Bosson's restful, colored-pencil illustrations tenderize the story without romanticizing it. Limpert's endnote furnishes statistics about the tundra swan population and information about their characteristic behaviors. An audiocassette and stuffed toy are also available from the publisher. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)