Illustrated by Jon Van Zyle
ISBN 0-316-57212-8
Little Brown & Co, 2001
Ages 7 and up
REVIEWS:
"There is danger, drama, and joy as Miller describes the birth of a new calf, encounters with predators and nomadic hunters, and the rigors of annual migration. Acrylic paintings capture the essence of the enormous "walking haystacks" and the harsh terrain in which they lived...Vivid writing and equally impressive illustrations make this an excellent science title for young readers."
-Kirkus
CREATING THE BOOK:
One day a friend handed me a mammoth tooth that he discovered while gold mining in a nearby river. The molar was the size of a brick and weighed about four pounds. This sparked my imagination. How could I hold this giant tooth and not further research these shaggy creatures that lived near my home as "recently" as 10,000 to 12,000 years ago? Researching this book was a challenge. Unlike my other life cycle books, I could not go out an observe wild mammoths. Instead, I visited natural history museums, examined tusks and fossils, interviewed paleontologists, and read books about these fascinating creatures and their closest living relative, the elephant. Through careful research and the help of scientists I pieced together a hypothetical life history story of these amazing animals. For more details on this research and my other wildlife books you can read "Sharing the Journey Through Life Cycle Stories," an article that appeared in the February/March 2001 issue of Book Links, published by the American Library Association.
FUN FACTS FOR KIDS:
Did you know that...
*Based on the frozen contents of woolly mammoths, these animals ate on the average of 400 pounds of grasses, sedges, and other plants per day.
*A newborn mammoth weighed about 200 pounds at birth.
*An adult male mammoth weighed up to six tons with tusks that grew to be 8-9 feet long and averaged 100 pounds each.
*Woolly mammoths had a vast range stretching from Europe, through Siberia and Alaska, and south across Canada into the northernmost regions of the United States. They lived during the Pleistocene period some 10,000 to 250, 000 years ago.
