Nonficiton Selection: Almost Gone: The Worlds Rarest Animals by Steve Jenkins

For this post I was required to read a non fiction selection and chose the book Almost Gone: The World's Rarest Animals.  Steve Jenkins is a favorite in our house.  Steve writes about animals in such an interesting, child appealing way.  He writes about facts that seem to be plucked right out of a child's brain.  The way a child can ask the most abstract questions like why do lizards tails break off, Steve will answer and additionally tell you how many other things a lizard does with its tail.

In this book Steve addresses extinction, which for some children is an issue that has never entered their mind.  Steve writes about the animal, its location, how many are left, and what the possible reason for their impending extinction might be.  He also provides a map in the back of the book so when the child reads about the animal’s location he/she can reference the world map and see where that location is.  Most of the animals mentioned are animals I had never heard of like the Iriomote Cat or the Tasmanian Wolf.  Steve's illustrations are what drew me to his books to begin with.  He uses what looks like a layered paper effect to give depth and cool angles to the animals in his books. 

My Review: I enjoyed reading this book with Dutch because it opened his eyes to how we treat our environment can directly affect  the lives of animals. He enjoyed looking up the locations of each animal on the map and seeing how close each animal was to Florida. Steve's books have already made their way in to our home library and will definitely find a place within my classroom library.

Dutch's Review ( in his words): I like the pictures and the map in this book.  There are so many cool animals that I never heard of, but it’s sad there aren't a lot left.   Why do people think its o.k. to litter? That can hurt the animals and then we won't have any left. I think kids should read this book and then they will learn how to help save the animals.