GONE WILD

Using a combination of physical and digital media, McLimans offers 26 page-filling, dramatic letter forms in silhouette, each based on the shape of an endangered animal whose name starts with that letter, from “Chinese Alligator” to “Grevy’s Zebra.” Reminiscent of Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich’s Bembo’s Zoo (2000) as an impressive showcase in visual design, the letters artfully use both filled and empty space to evoke rather than accurately represent their living counterparts, and will likely be of greater interest to students of the graphic arts than to budding naturalists. The author does include very brief notes on each creature’s habitat, range, threats and official status, backed up by a closing comment and a multimedia resource list—but like Patricia Mullins’s V For Vanishing: An Alphabet of Endangered Animals (1993), this will be more useful to younger readers as a consciousness-raiser than an information source. (Picture book/nonfiction. 5-8)