Tired hunter, must succeed. Baby hungry mouth to feed. Flying eagle, soaring high. Blazing sunset, crimson sky. The sun is setting, and the weary tawny eagle continues to soar and search over the vast Serengeti Plain. He has been hunting all day, and he will not stop until he finds food for his young chick. As the sky darkens and nighttime approaches, predators and prey emerge on the land below. Hippos lounge, cobras slither, lions prowl, zebras gallop, rhinos graze, dik-diks scurry—and still the eagle searches. Poetic text and stunning illustrations depict a father tawny eagle on his evening flight. Back matter provides additional information about the tawny eagle and the Serengeti Plain. FLYING EAGLE is an intriguing introduction to the African landscape of the Serengeti, which is rich in wildlife but in danger of being damaged by poachers. Grade 1–3—"Scanning, seeking,/east and west./Hunt continues,/cannot rest." Terse poetic lines sketch the hunting efforts of an African tawny eagle as he nears the end of a tiring day. Needing food for his hungry chick, he encounters hippos and crocodiles, a cobra and dik-diks, zebras, kudu, and more before he has a close call with the arrow of a poacher. As night falls, a weaver bird finally loses the battle and becomes supper for the chirping baby. Reflecting the sunset and evening hours of the eagle's search, Ray's watercolors place the various animals in soft focus against the "Blazing sunset,/crimson sky," (really orange here), as well as deepening shades of blue. Some dramatic views of the eagle are paired with less-distinct impressions of the other animals in the sweeping spreads. Focusing on the eagle's need to hunt and feed its young, the text never names a location, but concluding notes describe the Serengeti National Park where the animals live, the activities of poachers there, and further aspects of the tawny eagle's behavior. An additional purchase that works nicely for reading aloud and introducing African wildlife.— Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The setting is a big part of the drama in this large picture book about an eagle’s search for prey in the Serengeti wildlife refuge in Tanzania. Each double-page spread includes a very short, simple rhyme with a soaring, unframed watercolor and colored-pencil picture of the bird in flight. As the eagle flies in the blazing sunset, “roaring lions / prowl below. / Tracking, stalking / growling low.” One exciting spread shows zebras as a galloping “zigzag pack.” Other pages feature rhinos, hippos, crocodiles, a spitting cobra, and a dik-dik buck that dodges a poacher’s arrow. Finally the sky darkens, and the weary eagle catches a weaver bird in frantic flight and brings the food back to the eager baby in its nest. Then, at dawn, the eagle sets out for another flight. Long notes at the back about the eagle and about the Serengeti will fascinate young animal lovers. Grades K-3. --Hazel Rochman Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen is the author of several books, including THE MINE-O-SAUR (Putnam) and TIGHTROPE POPPY THE HIGHWIRE PIG (Sterling). She lives in South Orange, New Jersey. Used Book in Good Condition