Winter's Tail: How One Little Dolphin Learned To Swim Again - Hardcover

Craig Hatkoff is the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival and of Turtle Pond Publications. Both Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship are New York Times bestsellers. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Manhattan.

Isabella Hatkoff is the co-author of bestselling Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship with her father, Craig Hatkoff, and ecologist Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship was published in the spring of 2006 and became an international phenomonen. She lives in Manhattan with her family

Hatkoff and his daughters continue their nonfiction series (Owen & Mzee, 2006; Knut, 2007) highlighting animals that overcome adversity. Here they follow a baby Atlantic bottle-nosed dolphin that lost her tail after becoming entangled in a crab trap. Rescued by Florida wildlife conservationists, she was nursed back to health and later fitted with an artificial tail. The main narrative is informal and conversational, well suited to a younger audience. Readers learn about Winter’s improvised, tail-free swimming techniques and how trainers helped her to adjust to the new device. An afterword provides further information about the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (where Winter lives), dolphins and their training, and Kevin Carroll, whose company developed the prosthetic tail. Most of the photographs are crisp and clear, depicting Winter’s dramatic rescue and several training routines. Designed for a dual audience (animal lovers and humans who have overcome physical adversity), this will make an inspirational choice for browsers. For another look at dolphins in captivity, point readers to Twig C. George’s A Dolphin Named Bob (1996). Grades 1-3. --Kay Weisman