by John E. Becker, Ph.D.
School Street Media (for the Columbus Zoological Park Assn.), 2010
The Columbus Zoo is famous for its cheetah conservation program. Anatolian Shepherd Dogs have begun to be used in cheetah conservation, and this book explains how these natural enemies have become so important to each other. The dogs are bred and trained to protect herds of livestock (goats or sheep). When a cheetah approaches, the dog scares it away. No livestock are killed and the livestock owners do not feel the need to kill any cheetahs. The Columbus Zoo has raised two Anatolian shepherd pups and two cheetah kittens together to use to educate the public about this unique cheetah conservation effort.
This is a great little book with one- or two-page chapters and fabulous photography. It's the kind of nonfiction book a 3rd-5th grader could read cover to cover. We are always on the look-out for nonfiction our students can READ and not just BROWSE.
by Linda Stanek
School Street Media (for the Columbus Zoological Park Assn.), 2010
If you live in Central Ohio and didn't know that there was a new baby elephant at the Zoo last year, you must have been living in a cave!
This book by local author Linda Stanek documents Beco the baby elephant's first year. I just dare you to read this book without saying, "Awww..."! The book is organized like a diary or journal, by date, and the entries are short and illustrated with lots of pictures. There are information boxes throughout that give general elephant information to go along with the milestones of Beco's first year.
