ALMOST GONE/THE WORLD'S RAREST ANIMALS

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Jenkins, Steve. 2006. ALMOST GONE/THE WORLD'S RAREST ANIMALS. New York, NY: HarperCollins. ISBN 0060535989.

PLOT SUMMARY
In this nonfiction book Jenkins gives the reader insight into the Earth's animals that are gone, almost extinct, and those that will become extinict if people do not take steps to preserve the animals habitats. In the first section of the book Jenkins provides a one page spread on several animals with detailed information about the name of each animal, where it lives, the best guess scientists have about the number of each remaining in the wild, a physical description of each, and in some instances what caused the reduction in the number of the species.

In the second section that Jenkins entitles "Gone Forever" he highlights animals that are extinct. Again he gives a physical description of each species along with a visual of each. He also lists in some cases possible reasons for their extinction. The final section in Jenkin's book is entitled "Coming Back" gives the same basic information as in the other two sections with the difference being that he gives details about what is being done to prevent these animals from being wiped off the Earth forever.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jenkins does a great job of illustrating-in both words and pictures-the plight of these rare and lost animals. He provides factual information about each species of animal while at the same time providing theories about possible reasons for the extinction of some species without expressing his personal opinion. For example, the Guam Flying Fox according to Jenkins is theorized to have become extinict when in the 1940s the Brown Tree Snake was brought to Guam.

The book is logical in the organization of the material. Jenkins first hooks the reader with animals that are almost extinict, then provides the reader insight into animals that will no longer be seen by anyone due to poor hindsight, to finally giving the reader hope that there are animals that can make a comeback due to conservation efforts. Eventhough the illustrations of each species are not drawn to scale it does not deter from the enjoyment and sense of urgency that must take place in order for all of us as inhabitants of the Earth to continue to enjoy the range of species that share the world with us. This book will inspire people "to get moving" to participate in saving the world's creatures from further extinction.

REVIEW EXCERPTS
School Library Journal:"Starred Review. This engaging title is informative as well as visually stunning."

CONNECTIONS
A couple of other books that deal with this topic are:
Mullins, Patricia. V FOR VANISHING: AN ALPHABET OF ENDANGERED ANIMALS.
ISBN 006023556X
Wrights, Alexandra. WILL WE MISS THEM?/ENDANGERED SPECIES. ISBN 0881064882.

Students can also write about what they as well as people everywhere can do to help prevent further loss of the earth's creatures. They could also research what techniques and/or products were utilized to cause the destruction or reduction of certain species. For example, the Northern Hairy-Nosed Wombat is almost extinict due to sheep and cattle ranching. The students could research this and then offer possible alternatives that would have accomplished the ranchers objectives without destroying the wombat's habitat.