America's Animal Comebacks

The America’s Animal Comebacks series provides narrative nonfiction at a basic level for elementary students and reluctant readers in middle school. The goal of the series is to build enthusiasm for science reading. Each book features about 100 words per double-paged spread, a fact page about an endangered animal, a one-page glossary, a brief bibliography, and additional resources. Colored photographs and habitat maps enhance the text. While none of the books provide in-depth coverage of the issues surrounding the content, they might provide a good introduction for younger or less able students.

The America’s Animal Comebacks series provides narrative nonfiction at a basic level for elementary students and reluctant readers in middle school. The goal of the series is to build enthusiasm for science reading. Each book features about 100 words per double-paged spread, a fact page about an endangered animal, a one-page glossary, a brief bibliography, and additional resources. Colored photographs and habitat maps enhance the text. While none of the books provide in-depth coverage of the issues surrounding the content, they might provide a good introduction for younger or less able students.

Using glossy close-up photographs and accessible text, these books offer readers a clear chronicle of the animals’ struggles and successes. Authors clearly outline the threats and what humans have done to help (after, in many cases, causing the problem). Readers studying conservation will gain valuable information. Statistics and facts about other endangered animals are appended.

Vibrant pictures and a child-friendly layout make this series a wonderful addition to any elementary school library. The series focuses on animals that were once considered extinct and are now “back.” The facts are beautifully laid out. Each page contains one or more pictures, and additional information in captions or a fact box. The books explain the deaths of the animals and tell the history of the population declines. The authors then bring readers up to date on the animals’ current status and their future. Each book in the series includes a fact page and a page showing other species that are endangered or extinct. This is a nonfiction series that all students will want to read for pleasure due to the high interest content. Recommended.

These books feature animals that were on the brink of extinction and explain what caused their decline and the efforts taken to increase their populations, including protecting them from predators and the environmental poisons and pollutions that threaten their survival. Full-color photos of the animals, their habitats, and methods for trying to save them appear on every page. The pictures are engaging and informative, and the books’ format is open and inviting. Each title includes a fact sheet about the featured animal and another on similar species that are also in danger of extinction.

These titles summarize key efforts of committed biologists, environmentalists, zoologists, and other scientists to take these animals off the endangered list. The books are well organized and have an easy style and an accessible vocabulary and text size, leading readers smoothly from one concept to the next… Why the animals were previously endangered (focusing on how hunting, habitat loss, or pollution destroyed them) and what professionals did to save them are explained. Simple pre- and post-endangered-status maps show the animals’ ranges. Related endangered species outside the United States are mentioned. Must-haves for libraries that need books on this topic.