Under Threat

This over­sized book is unfor­get­table. Both the art and the text are strong tes­ta­ments about ani­mals that are “threat­ened with extinc­tion: crit­i­cal­ly endan­gered (the most threat­ened), endan­gered, and vul­ner­a­ble (the least threat­ened).” There are also cat­e­gories for species that are extinct, extinct in the wild, or not thought to be threat­ened at the moment.

Each two-page spread describes the char­ac­ter of the ani­mal, the rea­sons why its num­bers have dwin­dled dra­mat­i­cal­ly, and the efforts being made to save the species.

A map shows the area where the ani­mal per­sists and an infor­ma­tion box states its class, fam­i­ly, IUCN sta­tus, and population.

The art­work by Tom Frost is a full-page, styl­ized draw­ing of the endan­gered ani­mal, each on pre­sent­ed as a postage stamp. The art­work is so strong and so beau­ti­ful that each page could be a framed poster (but don’t take the book apart!). 

Tapan­uli Orang­utan, Kem­p’s Rid­ley, Sun­da Pan­golin, Large­tooth Saw­fish. Each one moves my heart.

It’s a book well worth own­ing at home and at school. Ani­mal lovers will be drawn in auto­mat­i­cal­ly, but the writ­ing is so inter­est­ing and the art so mag­net­ic that every­one will be fas­ci­nat­ed and moved to action. 

Under Threat: an Album of Endan­gered Animals
writ­ten by Mar­tin Jenkins
illus­trat­ed by Tom Frost
Can­dlewick Stu­dios, 2019
ISBN 978 – 1536205435