Published at DK Canada
About the book
Animals Alive is an exciting exploration of animal life through the ages. A host of amazing animals are illustrated and introduced—but why are some of them no longer alive? To explain this, the concept of extinction is laid out, with a look at the death of the dinosaurs and the world’s other major extinction events. Looking to the present, the book also celebrates the diversity of life on Earth today.
Animal profile spreads are packed with photos and include key facts, distribution data, and other awe-inspiring information. Using the classifications of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Animals Alive looks at the current threats facing animals on Earth and reveals how some species have brought back from the brink by conservation.
My Thoughts
Here’s another fabulous book from DK that will introduce your kids to the world of endangered species around the world. It is well known that pollution, humans and other reasons can cause some damages on animals, plants, birds and sea creatures.
Apart from some evolution information here and there in the book, the subject is quite interesting. The book starts with a description on how animals survive, the importance of the ecosystems and the biodiversity the treats and an explanation on the codes you would find throughout the book (NT- near threatened, VU- vulnerable, EN – endangered, CR – critically endangered, EW – extinct in the wild, EX - extinct). I was particularly interested in the consequences a small change can have on various species. An wonderful example from the Yellowstone National Park is included in the first part of the book. It reminded me of an episode of the Magic School Bus explaining the lack of cacao pods in the rainforest. Needless to say it was an eye opener when we realized that a small change can have dire consequences when we least expect it.
Then the book goes through the various species of animals and presents them according to their level of endangerment Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates are presented. We learned interesting facts about different animals but the one that I liked the most was the Leatherback turtle. I had the privilege to see a painted turtle laying her eggs at our camp sites back in June 2009 and it was just wonderful to witness this. So to learn more about another turtle specie was fun. During my readings I also learned something very interesting. Did you know that high temperatures inside a leatherback turtle nest will produce female while low temperatures will produce males? I bet you didn’t know that.
While going through this book it reminded me that a few years ago,the bald eagles was on the endangered list. Decisions were made to protect this magnificent bird. Last year, while taking a fishing trip on a lake in Ontario, I saw some huge nests and bald eagles. I had no clue that the bald eagle was in Ontario. I learned later that it was the first time in years that the bird has nested in the area. Pretty impressive what can happen when we take the necessary decisions to protect a specie of animal don’t you think? Today, the bald eagles are apparently healthy and the population is growing.
Animals Alive is a good book to have in hand to illustrate the damages that can be done on species around the world.
Animals Alive is available at your favourite bookstore, even amazon.ca.
Disclaimer: Thanks to DK Canada for sending me the above mentioned product for review purposes. I was not monetarily compensated for this review. Please note that the review was not influenced by the Sponsor in any way. All opinions expressed here are only my own.
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