Can we save the tiger? by Martin Jenkins and Vicky White
Walker Books, 2012. ISBN 9781 4063 3208 7.
(All ages)Highly recommended. Information book. Endangered
species. This marvellous picture book with astonishingly enticing black
and white line illustrations and paragraphs of words outlining the fate
of animals around the world that have been made extinct by human
activity, makes a heartfelt plea for saving those that are endangered.
A winning topic for the young and not so young, this book is a gem to
handle and browse, read all the way through, use as a reference with
its simple index, and click onto the plethora of websites given for
further information. It will have a wide classroom use and will be a
popular book for students to borrow and take home, there to read
further and share with their family.
The strong words describe some of the animals that have become extinct,
from the well known, Dodo, Marsupial Wolf, and the Great Auk for
example, to those like the Tiger on the cover, an endangered species,
and many others on the brink of extinction. So the book takes many of
these animals in turn, outlining their habitat, their history and why
they have come so close to extinction. Students and readers will be
amazed and enraged at some of the stories, wanting to find out more,
and certainly work to acquaint people of the dangers these animals
face.
The animals this book discusses are, amongst others, the Asian
Elephant, the African Hunting Dog and the Sawfish. Towards the end of
this book, several positive stories are told, of animals once on the
brink of extinction being brought back. The Bison is a case in point,
which almost died out in North America, to be saved int eh nick of
time. The Kakapo is one of my favourites, a New Zealand flightless
parrot, decimated by feral animals brought to the country by its
European settlers, now rekindled by being taken to a small island where
no feral animals exist. This is a lovely story which hopefully can be
emulated.
The book is the second written and illustrated by the same pair, the
first being Ape, published again by Walker in 2008, and one I
often
reread.
Fran Knight