ORENSTEIN, Ronald I. 1946-

(Ronald Isaac Orenstein)

PERSONAL: Born 1946; children: Randy, Jenny. Education: University of Toronto, B.Sc., M.Sc., LL.B.; University of Michigan, Ph.D.

ADDRESSES: Home—Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Office—International Wildlife Coalition, 1825 Shady Creek Ct., Mississauga, Ontario L5L 3W2, Canada. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Project director of International Wildlife Coalition, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Member of board, Elephant Research Foundation; chair, scientific advisory council of Zoocheck Canada.

WRITINGS:

(With Jon C. Barlow) Variation in the Jaw Musculature of the Avian Family Vireonidae, Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 1981.

(Editor) Elephants: The Deciding Decade, introduction by Richard Leakey, photographs by Brian Beck, Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 1991.

How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Animals and Plants Live (for young readers), Voyageur Press (Stillwater, MN), 1994.

How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Our Planet Works (for young readers), Voyageur Press (Stillwater, MN), 1995.

Songbirds: Celebrating Nature's Voices, Sierra Club Books (San Francisco, CA), 1997.

Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor, Firefly Books (Buffalo, NY), 2001.

New Animal Discoveries, foreword by Jane Goodall, Millbrook Press (Brookfield, CT), 2001.

Elephants: The Deciding Decade was translated into German.

SIDELIGHTS: With degrees in ornithology and zoology, Ronald I. Orenstein is an authority on animals and birds. He also has a strong interest in conservation, which led him to earn a law degree and eventually become the project director of the International Wildlife Coalition, which is based in Canada. Wishing to convey to his audiences the fascinating world of wild animals and why they need protecting, Orenstein authored his books for both young audiences and to the general reader who wishes to learn more about animals.

A member of the board of the Elephant Research Foundation, Orenstein focused on this animal for his first major publication: Elephants: The Deciding Decade. A collection of essays edited by Orenstein, the volume revolves around the fact that the 1990s marked an important turning point for elephant species: conservation efforts would either help rescue the animals from extinction or the decline in numbers would result in their extinction. One of the keys to preserving the elephant population, according to Elephants, has been the ban on the importation and sale of ivory. Jo-Anne Mary Benson, writing in Quill & Quire, called the publication, which is richly illustrated with photographs, a work "of high calibre." All of the profits from the sale of the book were donated to the International Wildlife Coalition Scholarship Fund.

Orenstein followed Elephants with two books for young readers: How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Animals and Plants Live and How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Our Planet Works. In the former, the author covers such subjects as paleontology, geology, ecology, meteorology, and evolution in an effort to explain some of the basics of these fields to children under the age of ten. While Books in Canada reviewer Janet McNaughton felt that the book "is not quite … accessible" to its intended audience, who would likely need some adult assistance when reading it, Ray Doiron asserted in his Canadian Book Review Annual assessment that this is a "well-written, beautifully designed, multipurpose book" that "will be popular in school and public libraries." The companion book about the planet itself received positive reviews, with critics appreciating the breadth of information and direct, simply worded answers it provides young readers. Janet Kosky noted in her Appraisal review that How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Our Planet Works is unique among similar reference sources in its "emphasis on environmental concerns and what the reader can do to help solve the problems." Magpies contributor Alan Horsfield concluded, "This should be a hit with young naturalists and children doing school projects."

Songbirds: Celebrating Nature's Voices is an introduction for general readers that covers both the anatomy and behavior of these popular bird species. An informal writing style characterizes the book, which Canadian Book Review Annual writer Janet Arnett pointed out "lends itself to relaxed reading." Orenstein examines bird species from around the globe, seeking out the most interesting examples he can find to il-lustrate such concepts as migration, vocalization, reproduction, and conservation issues. Enjoying the "comprehensive, intense text," Arnett attested that the author "comes across as super-knowledgeable, yet next-door approachable." Reviewer Nancy Bent, writing in Booklist, concluded that Songbirds is a "superb overview of songbird biology."

Orenstein studies another fascinating group of animals in Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor, which discusses the various species of these animals that have existed on Earth for two hundred million years. Critics noted that the book would work well as a reference source for middle-school and high-school students and even college undergrads, because it includes a wealth of technical information, including taxonomy, physiology, and evolution, as well as an extensive list of further research sources. Amanda Ziglinski, writing in Science Teacher, expressed reservations that Orenstein's text might be more suited to advanced biology students, but concluded that it will be "a great secondary teaching resource for harnessing students' natural curiosity." As with Elephants and Songbirds there is a strong theme of conservation in Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins, but Ziglinski felt the book "lacks a complete argument for how to sustain turtle populations." Lynn C. Badger, in her review for Library Journal, also noted that conservation is "where Orenstein's heart lies" and concluded that the author "does a good job" in answering readers' questions about these animals.

The same year he released his book on turtles, Orenstein published New Animal Discoveries, which shows that scientists are still discovering new species of animals. Many of these species are insects, but Orenstein focuses his book on sixteen mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish that were "discovered"during the latter decades of the twentieth century in locations such as Asia and Madagascar. Among these are the muntjac, the saola, the sifaka, the dingiso, and the lion tamarin. As with Orenstein's other books, conservation is an important theme, for these animals, though known to native populations, might easily have become extinct before they were ever discovered by Western scientists. A reviewer for Horn Book found this aspect of the book to be "particularly fascinating." Several reviewers appreciated how well organized the text is, with maps being used to indicate where the animals are found. Resource Links contributor Joan C. Simpson further complimented the "highly readable text," concluding that this is "an outstanding science book."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Alternatives, August-September, 1993, Juli Abouchar, review of Elephants: The Deciding Decade, p. 41.

Appraisal, Volume 29, 1996, Janet Kosky, review of How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Animals and Plants Live, pp. 75-76.

Booklist, November 15, 1997, Nancy Bent, review of Songbirds: Celebrating Nature's Voices, p. 529.

Books in Canada, September, 1995, Janet McNaughton, review of How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Our Planet Works, p. 50.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, July, 2001, Deborah Stevenson, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 418.

Canadian Book Review Annual, 1995, Ray Doiron, review of How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Our Planet Works, p. 562; 1997, Janet Arnett, review of Songbirds, pp. 431-432.

Horn Book, September, 2001, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 613.

Library Journal, April 1, 2002, Lynn C. Badger, review of Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins: Survivors in Armor, p. 135.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, December 1, 1991, review of Elephants, p. 31.

Magpies, March, 1995, Alan Horsfield, review of How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Animals and Plants Live, p. 33.

New Scientist, February 29, 1992, Cynthia Moss, "Tourists to the Rescue," review of Elephants, p. 49.

Publishers Weekly, October 11, 1991, review of Elephants, p. 57.

Quill & Quire, November, 1991, Jo-Anne Mary Benson, "Year of the Elephant," review of Elephants, p. 20; January, 1995, Martin Dowding, review of How on Earth?: A Question-and-Answer Book about How Animals and Plants Live, p. 42.

Reference Review, November, 2001, review of Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins,.

Resource Links, June, 2001, Joan C. Simpson, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 21.

School Librarian, winter, 2001, Stuart Hannabuss, review of New Animal Discoveries, pp. 218-219.

School Library Journal, May, 2003, John Peters, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 103.

Science and Children, March, 2002, David Wojnowski, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 36.

Science Books and Films, November, 2001, Mary L. Nucci, review of New Animal Discoveries, p. 263.

Science Teacher, November, 2002, Amanda Ziglinski, review of Turtles, Tortoises, and Terrapins, pp. 86, 88.