Signed and Personalized Book for Young Birders - BELLE’S JOURNEY

This listing is for a signed copy of BELLE’S JOURNEY: AN OSPREY TAKES FLIGHT, written by my friend Rob “Dr. B” Bierregaard, and illustrated by me, Kate Garchinsky, and a matching bookmark.

I can personalize the signature by adding a name. Example:

For Emme & Grayson—
(Osprey doodle)
Kate Garchinsky

To request this, please choose “Signed+Personalized” in the options, place the order, then message me the name(s) you would like added. Double check the spelling of the names before you do! I cannot accept returns for misspellings.

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About BELLE

BELLE’S JOURNEY came together serendipitously. I first met Rob Bierregaard at a meeting of our local bird club in 2013. Rob, an ornithologist, had just written a children’s book manuscript about an osprey he had been studying since 2010. The bird’s satellite transmitter sent the bird’s location data to an app called Animal Tracker every 3 days, so Rob could observe her migration patterns. BELLE’S JOURNEY follows Belle from her birth best in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, down the east coast of North America, across the Caribbean, over to South America, and deep down into the Amazon Rainforest if Brazil. 2 years later, she returned to the island where she was born. It’s pretty amazing.

I hope whoever reads this book will see the love I poured into the illustrations. -K.G.

REVIEWS
Kirkus Reviews
A young osprey named Belle completes her first 4,000-mile solo migration from Massachusetts to South America and back. One spring, Dr. B., a scientist on Martha's Vineyard who studies ospreys, selects Belle, a large, young female, to be equipped with a satellite transmitter dispatching messages tracking her movements every three days. By September, Belle has become an expert fish catcher and a strong flier, and she is poised for her migration south. Launching from Martha's Vineyard, Belle flies nonstop for two days over the open Atlantic before resting on a cargo ship. Resuming her journey, Belle traverses a Bahamian island, Cuba, and the Caribbean Sea. A hurricane blows her into Colombia, and she eventually arrives in Brazil. A year and a half later, Belle returns to Martha's Vineyard, taking an inland route to begin the next phase of her life. In this "mostly true story," Bierregaard (the real Dr. B.) uses the real-life Belle, whose migration he tracked, to convey this lively, personalized look at migrating ospreys. Rendered in watercolor pencil, ink, and aqua crayon, the realistic, atmospheric illustrations rely on line and color to capture the drama of Belle's amazing adventure. An engaging, informative introduction to ospreys for budding birders.

School Library Journal
Written in an easy-to-follow and authoritative style, this narrative nonfiction tale recounts the story of a young osprey from her early days in Martha’s Vineyard, MA, to her first migration to South America and back. Bierregaard, who has studied the birds for more than 40 years, explains that this is mostly a true story, but that he has imagined some of the details. He caught Belle as a young chick and fastened a radio transmitter to her (worn like a backpack), which sends an account of Belle’s travels to the scientist every three days. He knows where she’s been, how long it took her to reach certain places, and the weather she encounters along the way. Belle’s flight is an instinctual one, readers are told, but that doesn’t make it any less exciting. She travels many miles each day, survives a hurricane, visits the Japurá river in Brazil, and avoids threats from humans and other animals. Students will be easily caught up in Belle’s story, especially when she encounters dangers for the first time in her young life. Garchinsky’s illustrations—done in watercolor pencil, ink, and aqua crayons—are not only lovely to look at but match the book’s lively tone. There are also two photographs of the real-life Belle included at the end. VERDICT: A page-turner for animal lovers, this book is a good choice for libraries in need of engrossing nonfiction.