Endangered Animals: Level 2 (We Both Read Series)

Children's Literature - Judy DaPolito

This innovative reader for children in grades one through three examines issues related to the extinction of animal species. The book is designed for reading out loud, with the adult taking the longer, more complex text on the left-hand page and the child taking the shorter, simpler text on the right. All pages are illustrated with color photographs or drawings of the animals being discussed. The forty-page book moves from briefly presenting photographs of a number of animals and mentioning their habitats to talking about specific animals and the problems they have if their habitats are altered. The first and simplest case is the squirrel. That example is followed by facing pages with drawings of dinosaurs accompanied by the message that these animals did become extinct when their environment changed. Next comes a drawing of the dodo bird and an explanation of how humans caused its extinction. A longer discussion of what the term endangered means and how animal habitats are affected by human activity—for instance, cutting down forests, farming, hunting, water and air pollution, global warming, and pesticide use—takes up most of the rest of the book. The end of the book offers suggestions of ways that children as well as adults can protect the environment and thus the endangered species. The book is part of the "We Both Read" series.