Hungry Coyote

by Cheryl Blackford, Laurie Caple (Illustrator)

Overview

From winter hunts to picnic foraging, Coyote makes his deliberate way through the seasons in his urban habitat. His adventures come to life in this lavishly illustrated tale.

Down at the lake, Coyote is hunting, eager to fill his empty belly. When winter ice crackles, springtime frogs warble, summer thunderclouds threaten, and autumn leaves tumble, Coyote searches for his next meal. He stalks voles, rabbits, snakes, and geese, but there's no guarantee he'll catch his dinner. If his stomach growls, he'll steal vegetables from a tidy garden or nibble snacks from a trash can, maybe even leftovers from a family's picnic. Coyotes live on the plains and in deserts, on farms and in woodlands; they even live in towns and cities.

In Hungry Coyote, lush, lifelike illustrations by natural history artist Laurie Caple accompany Cheryl Blackford's poetic imagining of a year in the life of an urban coyote. Across the pages, Coyote sneaks, skulks, and scurries in his constant quest to feed himself and his growing family. While Coyote hunts nearby, people enjoy a city park. At the lake, in the marsh, among the trees, children jump, twirl, and play, oblivious to his secret life. But if they listen closely they might overhear Coyote's wild nighttime conversations with his mate and pups. Is he planning his next hunt?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780873519649
Publisher:	Minnesota Historical Society Press
Publication date:	05/01/2015
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Laurie Caple has created artwork for more than twenty books as well as the periodicals American Girl and Cricket.

Editorial Reviews

07/01/2015
K-Gr 3—Readers follow the eponymous coyote across four seasons in his city park habitat. The creature is introduced in winter, where people in colorful coats play in the snow unaware of the nearby coyote unsuccessfully hunting for his dinner. Spring finds him at the same lake, now marshy and teeming with dining options. The coyote's mate has given birth to six pups in a memorial rock garden. Summer features a stolen sausage chain from picnickers, which makes a treat for the quickly growing puppies. Soon children playing in leaves compose the foreground, while silhouetted coyote pair howls on the distant shore. The coyote family feasts on a Canada goose amid flurries. An afterword details the lives of city coyotes, focusing on their habitats and eating habits, as well as advice on what do during an encounter. The gorgeous watercolors depicting wildlife in its urban park setting are strikingly realistic. VERDICT An interesting and informative read.—Laura Hunter, Mount Laurel Library, NJ

School Library Journal

★ 2015-03-17
We share our cities with coyotes. This masterfully illustrated appreciation follows a coyote that lives near a lakeshore in an urban park through four seasons of hunting for food for himself and his family. Extensive alliteration and the repetition of phrase patterns characterize a text that reads like poetry and describes the activities of the coyote and those of the oblivious children playing in the park. During a summer storm, for instance, the children "jump, twirl, and umbrella-whirl," while the coyote "herds his playful pups to shelter." There are sounds and smells and surprising sensory imagery: "Wind whirls autumn's litter into rustling piles." Coyote's foraging is not always successful. He tries and fails to catch a vole. But he grabs sausages from a summer picnic, and in the fall, he catches an old Canada goose to feed a family that now includes six growing pups. Usually foregrounding the coyote, Caple's realistic paintings also document the changing seasons, from midwinter to winter's onset again. Each spread has a few lines of text; occasionally an onomatopoetic sound word swoops across the image. One icy blue spread is nearly empty; the coyote "howls for spring" in the distance. His is not an easy life, and readers will come away with sympathy and appreciation. A beautiful tribute to a much-maligned animal with which we share our world. (Informational picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews