Almost Gone

Steve Jenkins has illustrated many children's books, including What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?, a Caldecott Honor Book, and The Top of the World: Climbing Mount Everest, winner of the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award. He has also illustrated Wiggling Worms at Work, Life in a Coral Reef, and Almost Gone in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

"This engaging title is informative as well as visually stunning. Jenkins captures the essence of his subjects with appropriately colored, cut-paper collage illustrations on stark white backgrounds. Each endangered animal is introduced in a single paragraph that typically contains a fact or two about its range, behavior, diet, and those conditions that threaten its welfare. A middle section, 'Gone Forever,' memorializes animals no longer on Earth with an indication of when they were last seen. In a hopeful third section, Jenkins discusses three animals that are 'coming back,' due to the efforts to protect their habitats." — School Library Journal (starred review)"Caldecott Honor Book illustrator Jenkins applies his considerable talents to the cause of conservation. Using his signature cut-and torn-paper collages, he shows 21 endangered species, accompanying each image with a few sentences about the animal’s habitatt, a particular characteristic, and, sometimes, the reason for its endangered status. As usual, Jenkins’ artwork is fascinating. The last spreads consider four extinct animals and three species brought back from the brink by breeding or protection programs. A map designating the range of each species concludes this nicely accomplished entry in a generally stellar series." — Booklist