HOW TO SAVE AN OTTER

Ivy knows just what to do when she finds an injured otter cub while on a Florida hike, but she’s less sure about mutual friends now that her twin cousins have moved away.

Young readers will empathize with Ivy for her uncertainty about changes in her circle of friends, but Ivy also thinks about the welfare of the young river otter whom she and her family members—all trained volunteer “Critter Couriers”—rescue and transport to a local animal hospital. Messner folds loads of specific information about safe and proper ways to approach, handle, and care for an injured animal into her short, easy-to-read chapters. Nor does she gloss over the realistic possibility that, even with the best efforts and intentions, the creature’s survival isn’t guaranteed. Things begin to look up for the gregarious otter, however, and for pale-skinned Ivy, who cements her relations with her racially diverse classmates by working with them on several projects for an upcoming Earth Day fair. The playful, impossibly cute otter is the POV character in the first and last chapters and features prominently in Bricking’s fetching if infrequent illustrations; the creature has a constant presence in the tale, even when she’s offstage. The story publishes simultaneously with How To Save an Owl, which features Ivy’s brother, Ezra.

A sweet and informative animal-rescue tale.