Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

A nature photographer fosters a wild serval kitten in Kenya. Combining irresistible images and a narrative that's both informative and heartwarming, Eszterhas, a wildlife photographer who was living in a tent in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve at the time, describes how she nurtured an orphaned wildcat for nearly a year, helping him develop the skills he needed to return to the wild. Readers will be drawn in by the charming cover image of the kitten, but that's only the beginning. Every spread includes the author/illustrator's photos, carefully selected and artfully arranged. They illustrate the actions described in the text and chronicle Moto's growth. Each spread has a topic title and three or four paragraphs of text accessible to early readers, with a satisfying amount of information. The author describes her home in the bush camp, the incident that separated Moto from her birth mother and family, and details of her fostering: a stuffed-animal companion, bottle feeding and his first mouse, adventures outside, and his growing independence. The inclusion of maps, a table of contents, and some general facts about servals make this far more than a sweet story; it's a model of narrative nonfiction for the elementary-age audience. Not just for fans of cat pictures, this is an encouraging example of wildlife rescue and release with guaranteed child appeal. (Informational picture book. 4-9)

ALA Booklist

Wildlife photographer Eszterhas, creator of the Wildlife Rescue series (Sea Otter Rescue, 2016), offers up an account of the time she spent fostering a baby serval. Eszterhas first met the young wildcat when she was living in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve in Kenya. Lost during a grass fire and too young to survive on his own, the kitten was brought to a ranger station and later to animal-experienced Eszterhas, until he could return to the wild. Eszterhas, who named the kitten Moto after the Swahili word for fire, documents both life as photographer in a bush camp and the care she gave Moto, from brushing his fur with a toothbrush to teaching him to hunt. Moto eventually returns to the wild, and Eszterhas makes it clear that this is a happy ending. Her many photos of Moto, both as a fluffy-faced baby and an active, handsome adult, are the clear scene-stealers, but plenty of interesting facts on servals are included. More than one reader will consider following in Eszterhas' footsteps.

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A nature photographer fosters a wild serval kitten in Kenya. Combining irresistible images and a narrative that's both informative and heartwarming, Eszterhas, a wildlife photographer who was living in a tent in the Masai Mara wildlife reserve at the time, describes how she nurtured an orphaned wildcat for nearly a year, helping him develop the skills he needed to return to the wild. Readers will be drawn in by the charming cover image of the kitten, but that's only the beginning. Every spread includes the author/illustrator's photos, carefully selected and artfully arranged. They illustrate the actions described in the text and chronicle Moto's growth. Each spread has a topic title and three or four paragraphs of text accessible to early readers, with a satisfying amount of information. The author describes her home in the bush camp, the incident that separated Moto from her birth mother and family, and details of her fostering: a stuffed-animal companion, bottle feeding and his first mouse, adventures outside, and his growing independence. The inclusion of maps, a table of contents, and some general facts about servals make this far more than a sweet story; it's a model of narrative nonfiction for the elementary-age audience. Not just for fans of cat pictures, this is an encouraging example of wildlife rescue and release with guaranteed child appeal. (Informational picture book. 4-9)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Wildlife photographer Eszterhas (the Wildlife Rescue series) offers a tender chronicle of her time living on the Masai Mara wildlife reserve in Kenya, where she raised an orphaned serval kitten. Eszterhas-s sharp photographs preserve moments from her time with Moto, including cleaning and bottle-feeding the animal, as well as carrying him in a pouch during photography expeditions (-I felt like a kangaroo mom with her joey-). Eszterhas explains how she slowly began to reintroduce Moto to the natural world, allowing his survival instincts to develop. Moto-s eventual return to the wild is poignant, but Eszterhas repeatedly emphasizes that living as a wildcat is best for Moto: -I love to picture him hunting in the long grass of the savanna, under the African moon.- It-s a vibrant, small-scale comeback story. Ages 7-10. (Apr.)