The thylacine and the time machine by Renee Treml

Violet has a school assignment to finish over a weekend focussed on the extinction of the Tasmanian Tiger or Thylacine as we discover they prefer to be called.  This graphic novel is a great fun read and could almost be non-fiction as it has a lot of informative and real educational information. Renée Trell does what she does best writing fun informative and engaging graphic novels with a guest appearance by Sherlock Bones.

Violet has been working hard on her assignment and is all alone in the room except for her dog Tassie, when she is visited by the ghost of a thylacine who is determined to educate her on all things, Thylacine.  In the process Violet is taken back to the past when thylacines roamed Tasmania and learns how they supported the natural world in ensuring that the populations of small marsupials were kept in balance with other flora and fauna. They then travel to a lab where they meet a scientist who discusses her work and how science is helping other endangered species.

The graphic novel follows the characters into the future before landing back in front of the computer that Violet is doing her project on.  This book will appeal to children who like graphic novels and learning about the natural world. It will also appeal to students with a scientific interest in extinction with a bit of Jurassic Park thrown in the mix.  This is an informative and engaging graphic novel that could be used for science and discussions around extinction, DNA extraction from fossils and taxidermy specimens, and the environmental impacts of humans.

I really enjoyed reading this and found the information to be informative and done in such a way that students would be able to engage with it particularly like when Violet says 'I want to know more but I need it in language I understand'. This is a great example for students to show that it’s okay to ask for simplified information when they don’t understand. This is a fabulous book that I can see becoming a favourite within school libraries and on home library shelves, for confident independent readers as there is a lot of information in the margins and footers.

Themes: Action, Adventure, Ghosts, Extinction, Science, Thylacines, Australia.

Mhairi Alcorn