I almost cried reading Wisdom: The Midway Albatross. I'm going to partly blame it on the hormones. I'm also going to blame it on this touching story of survival. (Did I really just call something a "touching story"?). This story is a non-fiction picture book. The writing and art are great. Darcy Pattison and Kitty Harvill tell the story of Wisdom, an albatross that is over 60 years old! Wisdom survives fishing lines, earthquakes and tsunamis, include the one that devastated Japan last year. It was emotional and beautifully brought to life by Pattison and Harvill. ( )

This true story for children about an Albatross named Gooney gives us a glimpse into the life of what is called - The Oldest Bird in the World. Scientists found Gooney and put a band on her leg in 1956, but when they found her again in 2002 they realized she was then 51 years old. It was then they named her Wisdom.

Wisdom lived most of her life at Midway Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. She defied the odds and lived to be...well you'll have to read Darcy Pattison's book to find out. ( )

Gooney is an albatross who lived on an island. Gooney survived many things such as sharks and a tsunami. She finally mated and had a chick of her own. A scientist found her and put a band on her leg so they could keep track of her. Throughout her life thunderstorms, tropical storms and hurricanes threatened her and she survived. When many albatrosses died from eating plastic floating in the water Gooney survived by not eating it. She managed to not get tangled like so many others in discarded fishing lines. She was banded again and was given the name wisdom because she had lived over 50 years. She had a chick each year. In 2011 she had a chick and a big storm came and washed many of the chicks away. Wisdom and her chick survived. She is known as the oldest living albatross. The author not only tells a great story about an actual event, she has done a tremendous amount of research. Check out her book and learn about the research she has done and this wonderful bird ( )

On December10, 1956, early in my first visit to Midway, I banded 99 incubating Laysan Albatrosses in the ‘downtown’ area of Sand Island, Midway. Wisdom (band number 587-51945), is still alive, healthy, and incubating again in December of 2011. While I have grown old and gray and get around only with the use of a cane, Wisdom still looks and acts just the same as on the day I banded her . . . remarkable true story . . . beautifully illustrated in color. –Chandler S. Robbins, Sc.D, Senior Scientist (Retired), USGS Patuxent Wildllife Research Center, Laurel, MD

Wisdom is a Laysan Albatross, a wild bird from the Hawaiian Island of Laysan, about 800 miles northwest of Honolulu. Laysan is a low laying sand island, very important as a breeding ground for Hawaiian monk seals and several species of sea birds, including the albatross. Wisdom was first banded by scientists in 1956, but no one knows for sure when she was born. Wisdom is a tough bird. She has weathered earthquakes that caused tsunamis,’ tropical storms, thunderstorms, hurricanes, and man-made dangers such as plastics and fishing lines. In 2011, Wisdom, at age 61, laid her thirty-fifth egg. Her chick is apparently as tough a bird as its mother. When a terrible storm washed ashore 110,000 chicks and 2,000 adults died. Wisdom’s chick survived.

This is one heck of a story. Wisdom seems to be Super Bird having survived all of the dangers of living in the Pacific Ocean—or rather soaring above it. The author has done extensive research on Wisdom, speaking with those who actually monitored albatrosses from Laysan. The story reads like a biography, but without the red-herrings. This book will be a wonderful resource for the elementary grades. There is so much to learn about the oldest known bird in the Pacific Ocean. Wisdom, the Mid-way Albatross is a story of sheer determination.

The illustrations are excellent at capturing the beauty of the region. I love the double spread of Wisdom soaring above the ocean. To think she soared for five or six years is simply remarkable. On the cover, Wisdom pops right out at you, thanks to a black background. This cover will be easy to find on any bookshelf. Between the author and the illustrator, Wisdom, the Mid-way Albatross is a stunning story of one bird’s life journey against seemingly insurmountable natural and artificial disasters. Wisdom is not only a wonderful resource for elementary schools, it is interesting reading for adults, such as myself, who learned so much from the text, the references in the back, and all the side journeys from wanting to know more about the region and the birds. A smart student is going to take these interesting facts and exciting story and turn them into an A+ book report.

note: received from the author, Darcy Pattison
originally reviewed on Kid Lit Reviews:
http://kid-lit-reviews.com/2012/03/27/wisdom-by-darcy-pattison/ ( )