Safe Crossing

Gr 1-3–Joining her family along a paved “wet road on a wet night in spring” to count and to help wood frogs, spring peepers, and salamanders avoid passing traffic as they migrate through woodlands down slope to lay their eggs in vernal springs, a young child wonders if there’s a way to create a safer crossing for them. Indeed there is, as she discovers—though it involves consulting scientists and engineers, applying for grants and approval from town officials, and enlisting other children and adult volunteers in fundraising activities. As Percival lays out each step in this difficult process, younger readers will come to understand the admirable levels of concern and dedication required to bring such a project to fruition, as well as its rewards. Atmospheric illustrations depict not only amphibians of diverse species at home and on the move, but also workers arriving to construct an underpass. That, on another wet night in a later spring, allows many of the migrant creatures to make the crossing without fatalities as the child and a group of observers with flashlights look on solicitously. Along with a checklist of wild creatures visible in the pictures, the author closes with more information about handling amphibians properly, creating wildlife crossings, and doing good work as a “community scientist.”