Manatee Baby by Nicola Davies

By Nicola Davies (author) , Annabel Wright (illustrator) Part of the Heroes of the Wild series

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Out fishing with her father Manuela is excited when they come across a manatee. Killing a manatee requires great skill; if she and her father can bring one home there will be plenty for everyone to eat. But when she sees the orphaned baby manatee has been injured in the attack on its parent, Manuela just wants the baby to survive.

Manuela promises that she will return the baby to the river one day. But can she keep her promise? Nicola Davies reflects the terrible dangers for manatees from human predators.

The day Manuela and her father spear a manatee, Manuela's life changes for ever. She has dreamed of this moment - only the most skilful hunters ever get near these elusive creatures. But the reality of the killing shocks her, and when she realizes the dead manatee has a little calf and that it has been wounded, she vows to look after it.

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However, when they return to their village, her father sells the calf to Jose Gomez, a heartless money-maker. Determined to keep her promise, Manuela and her cousin Libia rescue the baby manatee from Gomez and take it to their Granny Raffy's house. The girls devote their time to nursing it, but they know that unless they persuade the people of San Larenzo to stop hunting manatees, it will never survive when they return it to the wild.

Together they set up a manatee school and slowly convince people not to hunt the already threatened species. But there's one person who won't be convinced: Gomez.

Nicola Davies has visited all the countries she writes about - and information about real conservation projects is included at the back of each book. These books focus on children who live in countries where wild animals pose a threat, and on the solutions that will affect their lives and their future.

Click on the links below to download extracts of Nicola's other titles featuring wild animals in their native habitats..

The Lion Who Stole My Arm

Manatee Baby features beautiful black and white mixed media illustrations by Annabel Wright.

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include The Promise, Tiny, A First Book of Nature and King of the Sky. She has been writing for children for more than 20 years. Underlying all Nicola's writing is the belief that a relationship with nature is essential to every human being, and that now, more than ever, we need to renew that relationship. Her work has been published in more than 10 different languages and has won major awards in the UK, US, France, Italy and Germany. Nicola is the Children’s Laureate Wales 2025-2027.

She is a Zoology graduate, an expert in whales and bats, and has worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. She lives in Powys