Welcome to the Destiny Finds Her Way Blog Tour & Giveaway!

I first fell in love with sloths when I met this guy in person in Costa Rica five years ago.

I also got to meet this guy up close for a feeding at the Arizona Science Center last spring!

So I was very quick to say yes to hosting this blog tour slot for Destiny Finds Her Way. I’ll take all of the sloth kidlit – especially with real life photography!

To celebrate the release of Destiny Finds Her Way by Newbery Honor winner Margarita Engle, blogs across the web are hosting guest posts from Margarita as well as the book’s photographer, Sam Trull, who is also the co-founder and Executive Director of The Sloth Institute — a sloth rescue organization based in Costa Rica. Join us for a journey behind the scenes of how these two amazingly talented women teamed up to bring this inspiring, true story to readers everywhere and learn more about sloths and the work being done to protect them.

The Importance of the Proper Rehabilitation and Release of Sloths

by Photographer and The Sloth Institute Executive Director Sam Trull

One of the things I am most proud of that we’ve accomplished at The Sloth Institute is creating the most successful protocol for how to properly rescue, rehabilitate and release sloths. Destiny was a successful pupil through this program and she is now living her best life wild and free because of our protocols.

The first step to proper sloth rehabilitation is getting the diet correct. Sloths have very complex diets and as such if the diet is not adequate the sloths will not survive or be able to be released. We source all of our sloth diets from over 40 different species of trees. In addition, sloths can only eat certain types of leaves from those tree species and the leaves must be collected daily to maintain freshness. Getting the diet correct is a very complicated process.

The next step is making sure the sloths have proper places to climb and explore new aspects of their environment. This helps them to build their confidence in climbing and decision-making skills. An insecure sloth won’t be able to make their way through the canopy treetops or handle various kinds of weather. Learning how to navigate the unexpected is an important aspect in a successful sloth in the wild.

Finally, the sloths must grow to the correct size to survive in the wild. Sloth moms wean their babies between six months and one year old (depending on the species). When rehabilitating orphaned sloths, you need to ensure they are big enough to withstand periods of food uncertainty while they learn where they can now find food in their new wild habitat.

Destiny excelled through these program steps and we are sure she is out there somewhere teaching her own babies how to be successful in the wild.

^{Photos courtesy of Sam Trull.}

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About Destiny Finds Her Way

^{(ages 4-8, Hardcover Picture Book, National Geographic Kids Books)}

Newbery Honor winner Margarita Engle and photographer and Sloth Institute Executive Director Sam Trull team up to bring the inspiring and true story to life of how Destiny, a motherless baby sloth, sightless in one eye and rescued by Sam in the Costa Rican rain forest, defies the odds, overcomes her obstacles of limited sight and learns the skills she will need to return to her wild, forest home.

Without her mother to protect her or teach her, Destiny is found and taken to a rescue center in Costa Rica. The little sloth soon befriends other orphaned sloths. Her poor eyesight, however, makes it hard for her to keep her balance. Eventually Destiny begins to use all of her senses to explore the world around her. But can she learn to climb? Can she master the other skills she needs to survive on her own? And will Destiny be brave enough to return to her wild, forest home?

In addition to learning about Destiny and her journey, readers are immersed in the world of sloths and sloth rescue in this uplifting story about overcoming obstacles and believing in yourself.

About the Author:

Margarita Engle is the Cuban-American author of many verse novels, memoirs, and picture books, including The Surrender Tree, Enchanted Air, Drum Dream Girl, and Dancing Hands. Awards include a Newbery Honor, Pura Belpré, Golden Kite, Walter, Jane Addams, PEN U.S.A., and NSK Neustadt, among others. Margarita served as the national 2017-2019 Young People’s Poet Laureate. She is a three-time U.S. nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Book Award. Her most recent books are Rima’s Rebellion, Singing With Elephants, and Destiny Finds Her Way. Her next young adult verse novel is Wings in the Wild, and her next picture book is Water Day.

Margarita was born in Los Angeles, but developed a deep attachment to her mother’s homeland during childhood summers with relatives on the island. She studied agronomy and botany along with creative writing, and now lives in central California with her husband.

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About the Photographer:

Sam Trull has been a photographer and a wildlife biologist for decades. After many expeditions to Madagascar, West Africa, and Central America, in January 2013, she settled in Costa Rica, where she co-founded and is the executive director of the Sloth Institute. Her first photo book, Slothlove, was published in April 2016.

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About the Sloth Institute:

The Sloth Institute (TSI) is a nonprofit organization located in Costa Rica with the mission to enhance and expand the welfare and conservation of sloths through rescue, rehabilitation, release, research, and education. In addition, TSI works on targeted conservation projects to improve the safety and quality of sloth habitats and teaches other rescue centers how to better care for and release their sloths. TSI believes that all sloths were born to be wild and deserve that second chance at freedom.