WILDLIFE ON PAPER

Globally vulnerable animals are presented in this picture book.

While there are plenty of picture books introducing readers to endangered animals, the illustrations in this one make it stand out. Author/illustrator Kundu uses crumpled paper to form the animals and then places them within digital environments and photographs the whole. The results—such as an eastern imperial eagle that soars through amber skies and a bulky polar bear on a floe—are striking. A few are not entirely successful: The snow leopard’s tongue licking its chops makes it look like it’s wearing red wax lips; the orangutan’s arms don’t look twice as long as its legs, as the narrative states. Text on each double-page spread gives information on the animal illustrated. The facts are more generalized informational tidbits rather than a cohesive narrative, although they are uniformly interesting. Eating habits, physical characteristics, and habitat, among others, are presented in a loose fashion—the selection process seeming to be what is unusual or distinctive, which is not a bad way to get young readers interested on a basic level. Backmatter contains more sources (mostly websites). The narrative has a few rough spots (“most unique”; some awkward phrasing) that mar its polish slightly. A final double-page spread showing a map of the world places the animals within their habitats.

Intriguing illustrations are matched with an interesting, generalized narrative.