THE BEST BOOK OF ENDANGERED AND EXTINCT ANIMALS

This easy introduction to animal extinction for younger readers misses the mark, focusing on dramatic extinctions of dinosaurs, mammoths, and animals hunted to extinction, and paying little attention to the complex inter-relationship between animals, plants, and the environment. It suffers from fuzzy writing and contradictions, stating, for example: “Before humans existed extinctions were caused by natural events and took many years. But since humans arrived many animal species have died out in a very short space of time.” The companion page shows a huge meteor and states: “Major extinctions are known as mass extinctions. In a mass extinction many species die out at the same time.” The author includes a brief general section on acting responsibly to save wildlife, a glossary, and index. Colorful illustrations on every page draw the eye, but do little to extend the text. Marginal. (Nonfiction. 7-9)