The Search for Sasquatch (A Wild Thing Book)
Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2022
https://www.amazon.com/Search-Sasquatch-Wild-Thing-Book/dp/1419758187
by Laura Krantz
Krantz is a journalist and podcaster whose Wild Things podcast has garnered accolades from heavy hitters like Scientific American. She is also a cousin to anthropologist Grover Krantz, something she didn’t know growing up. When she found out, it sparked her effort to learn more about Bigfoot and the resulting book for grade school and middle school readers.
I found a signed copy of this by accident. In an amusing coincidence, I saw it in the gift shop of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, where I was hoping to persuade the manager to carry my latest book on cryptozoology.
When I got it home and dug in, I found a well-written, intriguing
tale mixing research and her own discussions with Bigfoot hunters and
scientists. She makes one field hike, without results, but her talks with
people like Todd Disotell and Jeff Meldrum are useful. She covers everything from
discoveries like Lucy and the “hobbits” to the basics of DNA. She steps nicely
through the basic scientific method to examine the hypothesis that Bigfoot made
a particular “nest” she saw. Fieldwork
and the casting of footprints are here, too. Krantz might lose the youngest readers while
explaining the difference between hominin and hominoid and some of the DNA material,
but I don’t think they will mind. Krantz
agrees that nothing but a body will settle the question once and for all. She
writes that Bigfoot hunting must “apply the same rules of science” as other
endeavors and dismisses the “Woo” crowd.
Her chapter notes and bibliography are unusually complete
for a YA book, and that’s laudable despite the dearth of skeptical material (I
suggest adding a link to Junior Skeptic.) This is the best recent book I’ve read for
kids who want to be drawn into the mystery, which she notes at the end may be
more enjoyable and enduring than the purported animal. If I were in third grade
on up (I was precocious) I would devour this book. Heck, I devoured it now.
There are some glitches. In a book that includes some well-described science, Krantz never discusses the problem of how any of the possible ancestors made it to the Americas. She also misstates the DNA results from recent Loch Ness and Yeti endeavors. But there’s a lot here for inquiring young minds.
Bottom line: buy it for your kids. This tale of a hairy giant may get them
interested in learning about wildlife or hiking into the woods looking for
animals, footprints, and so on. If not, it’s engaging enough to at least get
them out of your hair for a while.
Matt Bille
Matt Bille is a writer, historian, and naturalist living in Colorado Springs. He can be reached at mattsciwriter@protonmail.com. Website: www.mattbilleauthor.com.
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