Overview
Bold illustrations, big flaps, and an ingenious die-cut design invite young readers to peek at the lives of endangered animals — and learn how to help.
Did you know that a giant panda likes to do somersaults? That a black rhinoceros can run faster than an Olympic sprinter? That a monarch butterfly flies up to eighty miles a day? All of these animals — and many more, from tigers to elephants to polar bears, orangutans to dolphins, penguins to sea turtles — are disappearing, threatened by deforestation, poaching, fishing nets, global warming, and more. After enjoying the book’s eye-catching, dramatic format, kids can follow the simple suggestions offered to help save the animals.
Synopsis
Bold illustrations, big flaps, and an ingenious die-cut design invite young readers to peek at the lives of endangered animals — and learn how to help.
Did you know that a giant panda likes to do somersaults? That a black rhinoceros can run faster than an Olympic sprinter? That a monarch butterfly flies up to eighty miles a day? All of these animals — and many more, from tigers to elephants to polar bears, orangutans to dolphins, penguins to sea turtles — are disappearing, threatened by deforestation, poaching, fishing nets, global warming, and more. After enjoying the book’s eye-catching, dramatic format, kids can follow the simple suggestions offered to help save the animals.
Publishers Weekly
Each oblong spread in this eye-catching and informative book features endangered animals rendered in matte paper collage. Large flaps show animals engaging in multiple activities (a polar bear is seen “strolling across the ice,” then “diving into the Arctic Ocean”). The playful expressions of Barry's lively animals make the final spreads all the more stark, as they reappear in black die-cut silhouettes. A page turn, and they're “gone forever.” End-pages help answer the closing question, “How can I help?” Ages 4-7. (Feb.)
Editorials
Children's Literature -
The clever designer of this book chose to make it nine and a half inches tall and ten inches wide, which, with a rounded front edge makes it seem much wider than it actually is. That, in combination with drawing the animals so large they barely fit on the pages, makes the elephant and rhino on their pages appear even bigger. On another page, turning over a half-page flap gives a tiger "prowling through the woods" of tall grey tree trunks the appearance of moving through a forest and "pouncing into a clearing." The book opens with the words, "I wish we could save all the endangered animals in the world!" After many more child-friendly illustrations of creatures from polar bears to butterflies are introduced, they all return again near the end followed by the words, "Let's save them all before they are gone forever." The very last page suggests simple things children can do to help save animals. Reviewer: Eleanor HeldrichSchool Library Journal
Gr 1—Each spread highlights an endangered animal, such as the Amur tiger and giant panda. A flap in the middle of the spread, when flipped, reveals the same animal in a different pose. The concept worked well in Duckie's Rainbow (2004) and Duckie's Ducklings (2005, both Candlewick) because the flipping of the page enhanced the visualization of what Barry was trying to show: for example, actually creating a rainbow. The flaps do not work that way here; they merely provide a novel way of presenting the material. Nevertheless, this book will appeal to children as the collage illustrations are attractive. There are also two levels of information: simple sentences make up the core of the text—"I'd save the orangutan, stretching from branch to branch"—and incidental facts about the dangers facing each animal are written at a higher level and set in small type. This book could be used in a classroom setting to discuss endangered animals with young children, but it lacks the flair of the "Duckie" titles.—Kara Schaff Dean, Walpole Public Library, MAEach oblong spread in this eye-catching and informative book features endangered animals rendered in matte paper collage. Large flaps show animals engaging in multiple activities (a polar bear is seen “strolling across the ice,” then “diving into the Arctic Ocean”). The playful expressions of Barry's lively animals make the final spreads all the more stark, as they reappear in black die-cut silhouettes. A page turn, and they're “gone forever.” End-pages help answer the closing question, “How can I help?” Ages 4-7. (Feb.)