A baby bird hatches and develops to the point of flight. This book is illustrated with photos, something the seemingly turned corner of the drawn cover is intended to indicate, not with drawings. So as science it performs a function: showing young readers what an arctic tern looks like as it develops toward adulthood. But the narrative is pedantic, personifying the fledgling bird and its parents in awkward human terms that are unlikely to engage the young reader.

The story of a baby arctic tern and its parents. The story is told in the voice of the baby tern and covers the first season of life. The dialogue answers most questions a child would have. I did feel that the illustration on the cover was a little misleading. The book is mostly photographs with a few simple one color illustrations in the corner of some pages. Great book to get younger kids interested in nature. ( )

I loved this book! The photographs were wonderful and the text was delightful in its simplicity. If you have read "The Little Rabbit" by Judy Dunn you will understand the format of this book; they are very similar. I know you are not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but I also know that most of us do. The cover does not do this book justice. I wish they had taken one of the photographs and used it for the cover. Do not hesitate to buy or borrow this book from your library because it is worth it. My children also enjoyed this book. *I received this book free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own. Thanks Library Thing Early Reviewers! ( )

We were thrilled to receive an ARC copy of Growing Up in Alaska: A Baby Arctic Tern. My daughters enjoyed the mix of photographs and illustrations. They also loved following along with a family of Arctic Terns for a year. I do wish that an actual photograph was used for the cover, but that’s a minor detail. The mix of story and factual information makes this a great read for children 8 and under. ( )

A great story of a baby tern and it's parents told from the point of view of the baby tern. The photographs and illustrations are lovely and the descriptions are great with both story and factual elements. Both my children (age 3 and 6) enjoyed this book too.
While others are disappointed that the cover illustration isn't carried throughout the book, I'm actually disappointed that the photographs aren't used on the cover (I prefer the photographs to the cover illustrator). ( )