Book Title: Gone Wild: An Endangered Animal Alphabet
Author(s): David McLimans
Illustrator/Photographer/Artist: David McLimans
Publisher: Walker & Company
Copyright Date: 2006
Genre: Nonfiction; alphabet picturebook
Brief Annotation: In this beautifully illustrated book, author David McLimans takes readers through an adventure of endangered animals drawn in black and white illustrations with each animal representing a different letter of the alphabet. From the Chinese alligator to Grevy’s zebra, readers learn about 26 endangered animals. The text also includes information on the animals’ habitat and range and what threats the animal faces.
Your Rating (1-5) and why: 5—I love the illustrations in Gone Wild and the creative approach to teaching kids (and adults) about many unusual and rare animals. It is also a great book for younger kids who are learning the alphabet. The pictures are unique and strikingly done in the contrast of black and white, and in the back of the book, readers can read more about the animals featured and are given resources for further reading.
Readers who will like this book: People of all ages can appreciate this book and will learn from it. Although Scholastic recommends Gone Wild for pre-k to first grade, other sites, like Amazon put the interest level at a higher grade. It is an especially appropriate book for kids who have an interest in wildlife and conservation and would be a fun text to use to teach younger children the alphabet in an artistic format.
Question to ask about this book before a read aloud: What does the word “endangered” mean? What are some reasons why an animal would face endangerment?
Optional, but noted as extra effort:
1. Interest Level (age): Pre-K—Grade 1 (according to Scholastic); ages 8 and up (according to Amazon)
2. Grade Level Equivalent (grade): NP—Non-prose: “A code for any book comprising more than half non-standard prose.” (lexile.com) Guided reading level: N, (scholastic.com)
3. List awards: 2007 Caldecott Honor, ALA Notable Children’s Books, New York Times Best Illustrated Books of the Year
4. Book trailers: None
I'm glad to know about this book. I'm intrigued by the fact that the illustrator chose to depict the animals in black and white--I wonder how that translates with kids? When I think about books about animals, it's often their colors and how they look in nature that's really interesting. Maybe the illustrator wrote about his decision to use black and white somewhere in the book? Just wondering . . .
ReplyDeleteHere's another way a book can transcend an "appointed" reading level--when we use it as a mentor text for showing kids how to use different formats for writing up their research. In the case of this book, the author/illustrator researched endangered animals, and instead of writing a straight-up report about what he learned, he decided to make an alphabet book. Why not offer kids different options for writing their research findings? I can imagine a Kindergarten class creating a class book using ABC format to show what they learned about a topic study. What do you think?