Lootas
This Smithsonian award-winning book tells the story of Lootas, a sea otter pup who was born in the wild and orphaned in her first month of life when her mother was killed by a fishing boat in Alaska. She was rescued and hand-raised at The Seattle Aquarium. For six months, the author closely followed marine biologist C.J. Casson and his staff as they cared for Lootas and helped her adapt to her new home and new otter family. Color photos by C.J. Casson and pen and ink drawings by Deborah Cooper illustrate this dramatic story. Lootas is a grandmother now and still lives at the Seattle Aquarium, the number 1 breeding facility for sea otters in the world.
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Book Name:
Lootas Little Wave Eater
Target Age Group: 7-10
Publisher: Sasquatch Books
ISBN: 1-57061-164-5
Awards:
1999 Notable Book for Children by Smithsonian Magazine
2005 Washington State Library's Washington Summer Reads Selection on the theme of "courage"
Reviews:
"An engaging narrative of the rescue of an orphaned sea otter pup..."
—School Library Journal January 2000
"Teachers planning a unit on marine biology, or parents who want their kids to know about the natural world would do well to purchase Lootas, the story of a Kodiak sea otter's rearing at the Seattle Aquarium."
—Alaska Magazine November 1999