Cougar Crossing: How Hollywood's celebrity cougar helped build a bridge for city wildlife by Meeg Pincus, illustrated by Alexander Vidal

 This picture book narrates the life of P-22, a cougar who became a celebrity. After being raised in the Santa Monica Mountains, P-22 somehow managed to cross two major freeways, twenty lanes of L.A. traffic, to find a small territory in a little park.

Trapped in the park, P-22 lived quietly for several years with only wildlife experts aware of his existence. Until one day he was trapped in a crawlspace under a house. The resulting media circus put him in danger, but also made him a popular celebrity. So much so that even when he hunted and killed a koala in the local zoo he was allowed to continue living in the park. But P-22 had no future in his small slice of territory. No female pumas could duplicate his feat and discover his tiny territory and, even if they had, his park was barely large enough to support him, let alone a family of cougars.

Although P-22 is nearing the end of his life and it's too late for him, his status as a celebrity and the work of wildlife experts like Miguel Ordenana and Jeff Sikich, whose comments expand the story, has made it possible for a wildlife bridge to be built which will help future generations of cougars. P-22 also publicized the dangers of rodent poisons and other challenges faced by the dwindling population of cougars.

Vidal's blocky illustrations show an elegant, sand-colored cat drifting through the brush and across the landscape of his small territory while a diverse collection of people learn about and support cougars. Back matter includes a timeline of P-22 and other cougars, including many deaths from cars, rodent poison, hunting, and wildfires, and the projected timeline of the Liberty Canyon wildlife crossing. There is additional information about cougars and wildlife crossings and links to follow P-22 and other cougars. There is also a page of southern California wildlife, which can be spotted throughout the book. An author's note and bibliography complete resources.

The transition from P-22's life to the idea of a wildlife crossing is never fully explained and it almost feels like an afterthought. The book is definitely aimed at an audience that has a general familiarity with the area and wildlife crossings. However, as a supplemental text to a discussion of urban wildlife and wildlife crossings it's a good choice. Best for use in a classroom or with elementary-age children, this would make a good starting assignment for readers to research their local wildlife and how it is threatened by traffic (I know in our area a lot of turtles are killed during mating season). Pair with Crossings by Duffield and guide readers in researching and designing wildlife crossings for an interesting STEM project.

Verdict: If you are looking for more school-age titles addressing endangered wildlife, this is a strong title to consider.

ISBN: 9781534461857; Published February 2021 by Beach Lane Book; Review copy provided by publisher; Donated to the library