Found in South America, tapirs have remained unchanged since the Miocene era. This engaging "Scientists in the Field" offering follows a research group led by Brazilian scientist Pati Medici, who is tagging and studying tapirs in the Pantanal of southern Brazil, Paraguay, and Bolivia. Author Sy Montgomery and photographer Nic Bishop accompanied Medici on the research trip, giving readers an eyewitness, firsthand account chronicling excitement, frustrations (especially early on), and eventual successes. Montgomery brings the many different roles (and personalities) of research team members into focus, from the specialist in tracking, the (dart gun) shooter, and the two vets, to Pati herself, who manages to remain optimistic even when things are looking doubtful. Her genuine love and appreciation for tapirs, and for her work, are obvious. Information on the Pantanal ecosystem, and the understanding of at least some local farmers that working in partnership with native plants and animals is critical to the long-term health of the ecosystem and to their own success, place the work of the researchers in broader context. (Ages 10-14)

If you've never seen a lowland tapir, you're not alone. Most of the people who live near tapir habitat in Brazil's vast Pantanal ("the Everglades on steroids") haven't seen the elusive snorkel-snouted mammal, either. In this arresting nonfiction picture book, Sibert winners Sy Montgomery and Nic Bishop join a tapir-finding expedition led by the Brazilian field scientist Pati Medici. Aspiring scientists will love the immediate, often humorous "you are there" descriptions of fieldwork, and gadget lovers will revel in the high-tech science at play, from microchips to the camera traps that capture the "soap opera" of tapir life.