ENCANTADO: PINK DOLPHIN OF THE AMAZON

1. Bibliography

Montgomery, Sy. 2002. ENCANTADO: PINK DOLPHIN OF THE AMAZON. Photographs by Dianne Taylor-Snow. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0618131035

2. Plot Summary

This book takes the reader on an amazing journey deep into the Amazon rainforests where s/he encounters deadly insects, prehistoric looking birds, indigenous people, and PINK freshwater dolphins.

3. Critical Analysis

Sy Montgomery has made four separate expeditions into the Amazon to study the elusive pink dolphins. She has also sought out the advice and expertise of many scientists and native peoples to help her better understand these shy creatures. All of her credentials as well as her research techniques are made available to the reader at the end of the book in a section entitled "How This Book Was Researched" (Montgomery, 2002). Overall, while the information presented in this work can, at times, seem too enchanting to be real, the accuracy is both legitimate and verifiable.

Although I recommend reading this book from cover to cover, its organization does permit the reader to pick and choose only certain chapters to read. There are chapters on the pink dolphins themselves, on myths surrounding the dolphins, on other exotic creatures of the Amazon, as well as on how to help preserve this lush tropical rainforest. Each of the chapters may be read independently, however, there is no table of contents included.

The writing style of this work is very fluid and extremely personal. It is quite easy to imagine yourself in the canoe right next to Sy Montgomery, peering into the murky water of the Amazon River. The personalized nature of this work is created most dramatically by the creative use of second person prose. For example, the first line of the book begins with, "You're traveling to a world that is full of water" (Montgomery, 2002). This personal tour of the jungles of the Amazon continues throughout the rest of the book.

Finally, accompanying Sy on her journey was Dianne Taylor-Snow, who was able to capture the amazing photographs printed in this book. Some are small snapshots of people and exotic animals, while others are full spread views of amazing scenery. Despite their size, however, all of the photos transport the reader to an exotic world far away. The pictures of the pink dolphin (although the one photographed is not while but held in captivity in Pittsburgh) add credibility to this seemingly unbelievable tale. Also, although they a meant to accompany and enhance the text, simply looking at the photos and reading the cations tells a fascinating story y themselves.

4. Review Excerpts

Horn Book Magazine: While she is successful in showing that researchable questions are everywhere, her questions about the pink dolphins are less focused, and her narrative is driven more by her quest to see a dolphin than to solve a specific scientific challenge. However, this is more than made up for by remarkable descriptions and color photographs of the Amazon rainforest and its inhabitants, human and nonhuman.

School Library Journal: A stimulating text and vibrant, full-color photographs entice readers on this trip down the Amazon to meet these freshwater rain-forest creatures. Written in second person and in a light, conversational tone, the narrative evokes a magical environment as readers accompany the author and a guide on a voyage to investigate these little-known animals.

Kirkus Review: She writes with a contagious sense of wonder-mixed with frustration, for though she does find dolphins, all she's able to see of them are occasional flashes on the river's surface. Children will get a better look at this bright pink, lumpy-looking creature, as Taylor-Snow intersperses atmospheric, crisply clear on-site color photos with nose-to-nose shots of Chuckles, a resident of the Pittsburgh Zoo and the only pink dolphin in captivity in North America.

5. Connections

* Other Books by Sy Montgomery
THE MAN-EATING TIGERS OF SUNDARBANS
THE SNAKE SCIENTIST
JOURNEY OF THE PINK DOLPHINS: AN AMAZON QUEST

* Other Books About the Amazon
THE AMAZON by Julia Waterlow
THE GREAT KAPOK TREE by Lynne Cherry
THE SHAMAN'S APPRENTICE: A TALE OF THE AMAZON RAINFOREST by Lynne Cherry and Mark Plotkin

* Other Books About Whales and Dolphins
DOLPHIN MAN: EXPLORING THE WORLD OF DOLPHINS by Lawrence Pringle
WHALES AND DOLPHINS by Anton Ericson
RESCUE OF THE STRANDED WHALES by Ken Mallory and Andrea Conley
LOOKING AT DOLPHINS AND PORPOISES by Dorothy Hinshaw Patent