As a huge wildfire roared along the Funny River in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, firefighters rushed to the rescue. When they found five three-week-old wolf pups in need, they raced into action to save the whole litter. With no wolf parents to help, zookeepers and vets at the Alaska Zoo made sure the babies grew into a healthy, happy pack. Follow this true story as the pups travel from their charred forest to the Alaska Zoo, where they grow big and strong before finally moving to their forever home at the Minnesota Zoo. This nonfiction picture book with a cuddle factor includes a 4-page For Creative Minds section in the back of the book and a 27-page cross-curricular Teaching Activity Guide online. The Lucky Litter is vetted by experts and designed to encourage parental engagement. Its extensive back matter helps teachers with time-saving lesson ideas, provides extensions for science, math, and social studies units, and uses inquiry-based learning to help build critical thinking skills in young readers. The Spanish translation supports ELL and dual-language programs. The interactive ebook reads aloud in both English and Spanish with word highlighting and audio speed control to promote oral language skills, fluency, pronunciation, text engagement, and reading comprehension. "The story is simple enough for a kindergartner to understand and the extension activities at the end will expand the knowledge of older elementary students. I believe it would be a great addition to any elementary classroom library. - NSTA Recommends
