If You Take Away the Otter

by Susannah Buhrman-Deever, Matthew Trueman (Illustrator)

Overview

When the sea otters disappear, why does their kelp forest habitat disappear, too?

On the Pacific Coast of North America, sea otters play, dive, and hunt for sea urchins, crabs, abalone, and fish in the lush kelp forests beneath the waves. But there was a time when people hunted the otters almost to extinction. Without sea otters to eat them, an army of hungry sea urchins grew and destroyed entire kelp forests. Fish and other animals that depended on the kelp were lost, too. But when people protected the sea otters with new laws, their numbers began to recover, and so did the kelp forests. Susannah Buhrman-Deever offers a beautifully written account of a trophic cascade, which happens when the removal of a single element affects an entire habitat. Asides that dig deeper are woven throughout Matthew Trueman’s dynamic illustrations, starring a raft of charismatic sea otters. Back matter includes more information about sea otters and kelp forests, including their importance and current status, the effects of the international fur trade on indigenous peoples, and a list of books and websites for readers who wish to continue to explore.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536252149
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/31/2026
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Susannah Buhrman-Deever, a biologist with a Ph.D. in animal behavior, is the author of Predator and Prey. In addition to her academic work and writing, she has developed inquiry-based ecology curricula for children. Susannah Buhrman-Deever lives with her family in upstate New York.

Matthew Trueman is the illustrator of several books for children, including In the Past by David Elliott, Hippos Are Huge!by Jonathan London, and One Beetle Too Many by Kathryn Lasky. He lives in Phillipsburg, New Jersey.

I grew up in central New York with my parents, older sister, and younger brother. I still live in New York with my husband and sons, about two hours northwest from where I grew up. Over the years, I’ve lived in or traveled to a few other places (and fell in love with many of them), but upstate New York, with its forests and lakes and hills, will always feel like home.

I was a very shy child and spent a lot of time watching and thinking. I’ve learned how to pretend to not be shy when necessary, but I think that early shyness prepared me for both my past work as a scientist and also now as a writer. I’ve spent a lot of time watching animals, trying to understand why they do what they do. Writing also involves a lot of watching and quiet work—noticing and thinking, finding the right details, and dreaming up ideas.


About My Work
Although I’ve left my formal work as a biologist, I’m forever inspired by the natural world. It’s so big and complicated and wonderful. There’s always more to explore.


Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:
As a kid, I spent six weeks in a body cast after breaking my leg in a sledding accident. An important safety note for everyone out there: Watch out for trees.

I’ve had several animal-related jobs: a honeybee-swarm researcher, a parrot researcher, a fish cataloger in a natural history collection, and a volunteer at a gibbon sanctuary.

My garden is my happy place. I’m a little obsessed with digging in the dirt and growing things, and I'm always coming up with new projects.

Editorial Reviews

Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance. "People do not always understand at first the changes they cause when they take too much." Sea urchins take over; a page turn reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when hunting stops and the otters return…and with them, the kelp forests. A simple but effective look at a keystone species.
—Kirkus Reviews

Seaweed, snails, shrimp, fish, eagles, and the "kings of these forests"—sea otters—make up this ecosystem's food web. Facts about each species wind through the illustrations, which portray adorable (somewhat anthropomorphized) otters in a peaceful ocean environment. But, as Buhrman-Deever warns, this wasn't always the case...The disequilibrium is portrayed dramatically in Trueman's gauzy underwater illustrations.
—The Horn Book

The luminous illustrations and clear text help young readers understand the causes and effects of the otter fur trade. The book’s large type will appeal to younger readers. Facts printed in small type are suited for experienced readers...A solid purchase for all public and elementary school libraries.
—School Library Journal

Buhrman-Deever explains how, starting in the 1700s, Russian explorers in Alaska nearly drove the otter to extinction through hunting for the international fur trade. Her vivid descriptions relate the devastating consequences on the ocean forest until a 1911 treaty protected the remaining otters. While larger text tells the story and smaller text adds important details, blue- and green-hued illustrations resembling watercolors highlight the habitat’s richness.
—Booklist

From the Publisher

2020-01-28
Sea otters are the key to healthy kelp forests on the Pacific coast of North America.

There have been several recent titles for older readers about the critical role sea otters play in the coastal Pacific ecosystem. This grand, green version presents it to even younger readers and listeners, using a two-level text and vivid illustrations. Biologist Buhrman-Deever opens as if she were telling a fairy tale: “On the Pacific coast of North America, where the ocean meets the shore, there are forests that have no trees.” The treelike forms are kelp, home to numerous creatures. Two spreads show this lush underwater jungle before its king, the sea otter, is introduced. A delicate balance allows this system to flourish, but there was a time that hunting upset this balance. The writer is careful to blame not the Indigenous peoples who had always hunted the area, but “new people.” In smaller print she explains that Russian explorations spurred the development of an international fur trade. Trueman paints the scene, concentrating on an otter family threatened by formidable harpoons from an abstractly rendered person in a small boat, with a sailing ship in the distance. “People do not always understand at first the changes they cause when they take too much.” Sea urchins take over; a page turn reveals a barren landscape. Happily, the story ends well when hunting stops and the otters return…and with them, the kelp forests.

A simple but effective look at a keystone species. (further information, select bibliography, additional resources) (Informational picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews