Human Town

Human Town is a delightful book with beautiful illustrations (reminiscent of Oliver Jeffers' stories) and an impactful message for young readers. This story helps young students put themselves in someone else's shoes and see from a different perspective.

The story initially seems light-hearted but once the family of elephants enters into Human Town, you realize that there are heavier messages woven within. Students can make a connection to the extinction of the humans in Human Town to the real-life endangerment of elephants in the real world. The way that humans live their lives and treat one another in Human Town is eye-opening and challenging. This book would be a great hook for older students in upper elementary or even middle school to discuss the realities of humankind and changes they would want to see in their future.

Human Town would be a wonderful addition to any school or home library! It is versatile and beautifully illustrated so it can be enjoyed by all ages!

Thank you NetGalley and Tiny Owl Publishing for the advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

What a fun unique book! Such a creative idea to flip the script on zoos, where instead of what humans see as the "wild animals" the humans are the ones being observed and eventually go extinct. while I'm not exactly sure how young readers might interpret this book (whether they will understand the ideas), I do think it is a great conversation opener for adults to talk to older children about conservation. The illustrations are fantastic which could still engage those younger readers!

Human Town is a twist on the family trip to the zoo, as the main characters are a family of elephants who decide to take a trip to "Human Town", a sort of nature preserve where animals can observe endangered humans in their natural habitat. The elephants wander through the preserve and question what has pushed humans towards extinction. They soon witness rampant consumerism, extreme strife and division, and out of control pollution and return home hopeful that the same does not happen to them. The illustrations are wonderful, and even if the subject matter is a bit grim, it's an important story for reflection on the myriad problems we're facing currently.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tiny Owl Publishing and Netgalley**

This is such a neat book! It tells the story of a family of elephants who decide to visit Human Town, which is basically the equivalent of a zoo. As they observe the humans they learn that humans are very focused on things, they litter and destroy the environment and they are always fighting with each other. Each of these problems that Humans face are both avoidable and are making them go extinct. The final problem is that the large cats keep poaching humans which is also making them go extinct and is a direct reference to the fact that humans have made many species go extinct due to poaching and hunting. At the end of the story the elephant family feels sad for the humans and hope that if the humans do go extinct, they hope it never happens to elephants too.

I think that the parallels between humans and animals in this book are so well done. There is no blame placed on a specific group of people, and yet it shows that as a society, we need to take action to prevent extinction of animals, but also to preserve the earth so that we can survive as well. The crimes that have been committed towards animals are a part of this book without being super obvious and at the forefront. Instead the focus is on what humans are doing to themselves and the environment and what changes will need to be made in the very near future.

As a grade 3 teacher I could definitely see this book in my classroom library and as a resource related to teaching about the environment and animal rights. I would recommend this book to parents and teachers of children in the 5-10 age range. Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book!

Human Town was a beautifully illustrated commentary on extinction and how humans are causing their own demise. A family of elephants go to visit "Human Town," just like we would go to a zoo. They see the rough ways humans treat their environment and each other, and express their fears of the human downfall. It also mirrors a concern about a possible elephant extinction. This was a somewhat heavy book, but the heavy topics told through the elephants' eyes made them easier to digest.

This book takes a different look at what humans are doing to the environment. An elephant family goes into a human town. The humans are going extinct because they’re not taking care of their environment. The illustrations are great and give the full picture. This is good book to read and discuss the impacts humans are having on the environment.