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Review: How to Save an Otter

Written by Kate Messner 
Illustrated by Jennifer Bricking 
New York: Bloomsbury Children’s Books, 2025. 118 pages. 

When an otter gets hurt out in the wild, two kids and their family (who happen to be “critter couriers”) safely transport the otter to an animal hospital. There the otter heals and learns to eat so it can be released back into the wild. Ivy, the girl who helped her family take the otter to the hospital, worries over the otter being all alone—due to her cousins moving and Ivy suddenly feeling lonely. Ivy works to help at the hospital as well as holding a drive to get the animal hospital more supplies for injured critters. This is the first book in a new “Wildlife Rescue” intermediate series. 

Kids who love animals and want to know how to help them (or help those who can help them) will enjoy reading this series.

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