Wild & Wonderful Wednesday: Animal Rescue Team

 Today I am highlight the Animal Rescue Team series by Sue Stauffacher.  There are currently four books in the series,

Gator on the Loose 
Special Delivery
Hide and Seek
Show Time
Knopf, 2010-2011
Grades 2-4
Reviewed from purchased copies.

Each book follows the adventures of Keisha and her family who run an animal rescue organization.  The book covers do a good job of showing what animals are highlighted in each book.  In addition to the animal parts, the books follow the pretty normal life of a young girl and her friends and family.  One of the things I especially liked was how easy it was to relate to Keisha and her family and friends.  I also really enjoyed the multicultural aspects involving Keisha's mother who is from Nigeria.  While these books may not be high-class literature, they are fun and I plan to add them to my library.  Recommended for students who love animals (which is almost all students at my school).  Below, I've included a brief synopsis of each book.


 Meet the Carters: Mr. and Mrs. Carter, 10-year-old daughter Keisha, five-year-old Razi, baby Paolo, and Grandma Alice. Together, they run Carters' Urban Rescue, the place you call when you've got an animal where it shouldn't be. In their first adventure, there's a baby alligator at the city pool, which will seriously interfere with opening day, especially Keisha's cannonball practice. So it's up to the whole family to figure out what to do with the poor guy who has no business hanging around Michigan. Luckily for all of them, and thanks to some serious ingenuity from Keisha, the answer is closer than they ever could have imagined. (Goodreads.com)

Keisha and her family are just sitting down to Saturday-morning breakfast when the phone rings. Uh-oh! There seems to be a skunk at the community garden, and it's dug a hole under the shed. At the same time, Mr. Sanders can't deliver the mail to a certain house: crows keep dive-bombing him when he gets near the mailbox. Time for the Animal Rescue Team to spring into action! This time they've got two mysteries to solve: What could crows have against mail delivery? And what really dug that hole at the community garden--as Mama knows, it's too big to have been dug by a skunk. Once again, it'll take the whole team, along with help from some new friends, to sort out what, and who, is creating all this mayhem around town. (Goodreads.com)

It’s autumn in Grand River, and as Keisha and her pals prepare for Halloween, a phone call comes in to Carters’ Urban Rescue: a deer has been spotted in the neighborhood . . . with a pumpkin on his head! The deer was enjoying the birdseed treat inside when, somehow, it got stuck. The Animal Rescue Team has a problem to solve: how do you get a pumpkin off a deer’s head when you can’t catch him? (And how can Keisha concentrate when the newest animal at Carters’ Urban Rescue is howling his way into her heart?) (Goodreads.com)

The squirrels at Mt. Mercy College are getting too friendly—they're frightening the students, making the nuns jumpy . . . and they're super messy. It's time to call the Animal Rescue Team!  Meanwhile, Keisha's got a problem of her own. The Grand River Steppers jump rope team has a chance to win first place in their school district this year, but Keisha's so nervous, she keeps messing up! When she and Daddy go to the Veteran's Facility to check out their squirrel situation, Keisha meets Sergeant Pinkham, who's learning how to use his new prosthetic leg. Could Sarge be just the person to help Keisha stay calm, do well, and have fun at the competition? (Goodreads.com)