The Late, Great Endlings

★“This beautiful dedication to these special animals brings the reality and the irreversible finality of extinction to the forefront and calls on readers to act now, before so many other animals become endlings. Highly recommended for all collections.”—Booklist, starred review

The endlings: the last known survivors of a species.

Something that you may not know: in each and every case of a disappearing species, extinction had a face.

Over the past 500 years, thousands of species of plants and animals have become extinct. The Late, Great Endlings pays homage to some of the more well-known endlings of the past century with rhyming stanzas that accompany watercolor illustrations and factual descriptions of each animal, along with the circumstances that led to their species' extinction. Together, these portraits of animals, like the passenger pigeon, the Pinta Island tortoise and the Tasmanian tiger, are a poignant symbol of a world irreversibly altered by human development, habitat loss and climate change. Readers are invited to reflect on the interconnectedness of all life forms on our planet with an additional look at animals that are at risk of becoming extinct in our lifetime. Concluding on a hopeful note, the final page offers suggestions for what kids can do to change the course of this mass species extinction crisis.

Deborah Kerbel is the critically-acclaimed, award-winning author of fifteen books for young people of all ages. Her books have been shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award, the Canadian Library Association's YA Book Award and the Forest of Reading Blue Spruce Award, among others. Born in London, England, Deborah was raised with a deaf sibling and has always been interested in the creative expressions people use to describe and mimic sounds.

Aimée van Drimmelen is an artist, designer and musician based on the traditional territories of the Lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking Peoples (Victoria, British Columbia). Her illustrations have been featured in a variety of publications, including The Walrus, Reader’s Digest and POETRY Magazine, and she was the artist in residence at the Royal BC Museum for two years. Drawing inspiration from the natural world and ecosystems, Aimée collects plant materials from around her region to make inks.