The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Extinct Animals

By Sami Bayly

Reviewed by Mia Macrossan

Sami Bayly who describes herself on her website as ‘author and illustrator of all things weird and wonderful’, combines a deep knowledge and love of animals with a remarkable ability to write about them in a friendly colloquial style that instantly appeals to her young readers. Plus she is an ace illustrator, using intense colour, fine line and careful design to create stunning pictures of fascinating creatures.

Her previous books include How We Came to Be: Surprising Sea Creatures, The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Peculiar Pairs in Nature , The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Dangerous Animals 2020,  and The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Ugly Animals 2019,  all much awarded and deservedly popular.

In her introduction Bayly makes the point that ‘ hunting, overfishing, habitat destruction, pollution climate change and the introduction of invasive species are all modern causes of extinction’ and if we aren’t careful humans could be responsible for the world’s sixth mass extinction event. Apparently 99 per cent of species that ever lived on earth are now extinct so there is  a wide field to choose from.  She has focussed on species that are critically endangered, extinct in the wild or extinct according to the Red List produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Starting with the African Forest Elephant (critically endangered) she details sixty animals, concluding with the Yunnan Lake Newt (extinct). In between there is an ever fascinating variety of animals to take your fancy. My favourite extinct animal the Dodo is here, as is the majestic Caspian Tiger, the Kakapo, the Norther Gastric-Brooding Frog, the Southern Corroboree Frog and  more.

Each double page spread features an animal, with a detailed description, extinction status, habitat, diet and some fun facts on the left with a magnificent full page illustration on the right. There is always a drawing indicating size compared to a human figure, which is very useful since you can’t always tell from the full page illustrations which concentrate more on details of appearance. Each animal is given its popular name and its scientific name (with a guide on how to pronounce this, thank you).

This book will encourage the young scientist to explore deeper into the world of animals. The choice of subjects is wide so that there are many unfamiliar animals as well as the famous and well known. The text is presented in a repeating format that means you can easily find the information you want.  Both older and younger readers will find much to engage and interest them in this carefully researched and beautifully designed book.

Teacher resources provided on the publisher’s website

Lothian Children’s Books 2024

Sami Bayly