11 Caitlin Boeschel – How Children’s Literature Educates About Endangered Species
Caitlin Boeschel (she/her) is a Senior from Louisville, KY . This work was prepared for Alisa Clapp-Itnyre’s English L390, who states, “Caitlin wrote an excellent paper on children’s environmental picture books, one that she could definitely use as a sample of writing. The re-organization was clear and she was very specific in her criticism.”
How Children’s Literature Educates About Endangered Species
Learning about endangered species can be a challenging topic for anyone to understand. Many people believe it will be hard for kids at a young age to be educated on a topic that can be difficult for even themselves to learn about. Through children’s literature, we can teach these hard subjects to children. These books will open up the world to students. They will get to learn all about animals they may never get to see in person, for many different reasons: “Careful selection of literature, in addition to helping students to better understand these concepts, can arouse interest in the environment” (O’Brien 14). Children can gain an interest early on when we introduce these more challenging environmental topics to them. If we educate children about endangered species and ways they can help, they are going to have a better understanding and interest of the entire world around them. There is plenty of children’s literature that dives into information about endangered animals. This paper will examine If Sharks Disappeared by Lily Williams, Almost Gone by Steve Jenkins, Don’t Let Them Disappear by Chelsea Clinton, A Boy and a Jaguar by Alan Rabinowitz, Wildlife Wong and the Sun Bear and Wildlife Wong and the Orangutan by Sarah Pye. Each of these books are about endangered species but have a different take on how they educate children while also being impactful in their own ways.
Learning about endangered species is hard. Teaching about them is even harder. There are many different reasons why this can be a difficult topic. This difficulty just shows the importance behind the subject. If we do not get more people, this includes children, to start wanting to be a voice for these animals, we will just see more species becoming endangered. A global study was done of 71,000 animals. This study found that 48% of those are in decline (Guynup). The IUCN Red List is a great indicator of the health of animals and the biodiversity of the world. According to this list, of 166,000 species there are 46,300 that are threatened with extinction (IUCN Red List). Much of this is due to human activities. This includes climate change, deforestation, poaching, urbanization, and even just the spread of invasive species. Educating children at a young age will help them navigate how to deal with these problems as they get older, and they might even influence some adults now. Kids learning that their voice is impactful may just help save some animals. There are child activists that are showing children just this: “Greta is seen as exceptional and heroic based on her ability to have an impact on the adult world” (Monhardt 197). When kids are educated on why they need to speak up, and they see other kids about the same age as them doing just this, there will be change. Greta is a perfect example of just this.
The endangered animal literature I found the least impactful was Almost Gone. This children’s literature goes into detail about different endangered species. It gives facts about the animal itself, how many are left, and the reason they are endangered. This can be an eye-opening book for kids because they will see that almost all reasons that animals are going endangered are because of humans. While this literature does not tug at the heart, it is very informative. It may be harder for kids to gain interest because it does not help you gain a connection with the animals. We need kids to fall in love with these subjects to truly care about them and to want to help make a difference. In the book Almost Gone, the illustrations do not hold the reader’s attention. Children will easily be able to lose focus, as there is not much going on visually. As mentioned in the article, Depictions of Sustainability in Children’s Books, oftentimes the images can leave more of a lasting impression than the words. With that being said, if the illustrations are lacking, children are not going to pay enough attention to the book to understand what is being taught. This book’s illustrations look to be paper cut out collages of the animals, but they are not captivating. There is also a lot of white on the pages. Children reading Almost Gone may have a problem focusing on the book all the way unto the end and retaining what is being taught because there is not much to hold their attention visually. As mentioned earlier, this book is also not one the kids will be able to connect with easily. With poor illustrations, and less captivating writing, this book, while informative, is not one I would recommend for children to read.
Right behind Almost Gone, is Do Not Let Them Disappear. This literature also goes into information about different species and why they are becoming endangered. Neither of these books goes into details of how we can help save these animals, which would be very important and impactful. So, in a way I find that it may make kids feel like helping them is out of their reach. This is not the way we should make these children feel. The illustrations in this book are very warm and captivating, which is why I enjoy Do Not Let Them Disappear more than Almost Gone. There is also a lot of emotion behind the animals being depicted. On the page talking about gorillas, there is a baby gorilla with its mom, and you can feel the love between them. This is just one of many of the illustrations that capture your heart. With this being a more factual book, the illustrations are important to keep the young reader engaged and to get them to care. With the well representation of the animals, combined with the colors and the emotion, these illustrations complement this factual book very well. The illustrations were not enough to make up for the lack of information in the writing though. While this book can be informative, it needs more information to captivate and get children engaged.
The following books I very much enjoyed. A Boy and a Jaguar is a nonfiction book about a boy who has a speech problem and who felt broken. Through the study of jaguars, he gains his voice. He promises wildlife that when he gains his voice, he will speak up for them and he does just that. This is a very encouraging book that shows how humans can connect to wildlife. Through this connection, we are able to help endangered animals and even find ourselves. This book helps show children that their voice does matter, and animals need their help speaking up for them. A Boy and a Jaguar has impressionistic illustrations. These colors are more muted, using more earth tones. Even though there are more muted colors, these illustrations really help hold the reader’s attention. The pictures do a good job captivating what the text has to say. In one of the final pages, the text says, “We are both whole. We are both at home.” The illustration with this reading is just the boy and the jaguar looking at each other in the forest but it is so powerful. You can tell that they are truly connected, and that they both saved each other. These illustrations have a lot of emotion behind them and that is very impactful. Lastly, the theme behind A Boy and a Jaguar is about using your voice and self-discovery. This is very important for kids to hear about. Children need to learn that there is power behind their voice.
If Sharks Disappear goes a different direction in children’s literature. This book dives into what would happen if sharks did not exist in nature, by showing how everything in nature is related/has a symbiotic relationship; and when we lose one species in an ecosystem, everything will be affected. For example, there is a food chain representation in this book. It then goes into what this food chain would look like if you took sharks out of it. This impacts everything and it shows what the ocean would then look like without this predatory species. Going with this approach shows how vital each species is on this planet. This can help kids grow a respect for animals when they know all the different ways they contribute to the environment. Losing an entire species of animals, like sharks, will have a detrimental impact on the environment that we know and love. This literature helps show how animals that seem scary are actually very lovable and are needed. It is books like If Sharks Disappear that will help kids fall in love with animals, which is what we need for there to be change in the future. If Sharks Disappear is illustrated very differently. Each page has bright and vibrant colors. The illustrations in this literature are cartoons. It also enhances the text. With this being a more scientific book, the visuals help demonstrate the science behind what is being said. As mentioned earlier, this book shows an ocean food chain. There is a visual representation of what the food chain looks like with having a smaller fish on one end, shark on the other, and what eats everything in between. As someone that is a visual learner, this would have been very beneficial to me as a kid. You not only learn from the text in this book, but you also learn from the illustrations. If Sharks Disappear theme is more about the biology behind what would happen if a species went extinct. This dives more into the reason we need to help save animals, because if not, entire ecosystems will get disturbed and eventually collapse.
The books Wildlife Wong and the Sun Bear and Wildlife Wong and the Orangutan show more of an ecological side to endangered species and conservation. There are very few children’s literature books that take this approach. As a kid, I do not remember seeing any book that went into ecology. Both books start out with a heartwarming story about how wildlife biologists, Dr. Wong, set out to save these species of endangered animals on Borneo Island. This approach is a more scientific approach to conservation efforts. It goes into detail the science behind population studies and tracking of these animals. These are good books for kids who are interested in knowing what it takes to help endangered species as a career. While there are sad points to these books, they are very uplifting and do help encourage young readers to gain an interest in ecology. It helps show that we as humans are not powerless but do have ways in which we can help these animals. They also do a great job at making the reader feel connected to the sun bears and orangutans that are being represented in these books. Lastly, Dr. Wong and the Orangutan and Dr. Wong and the Sun Bear have a completely different approach entirely to illustrating these books. While there are a couple of drawn illustrations, these books are mostly depicted by real images. This is very impactful and powerful. It is almost certain the children reading about sun bears have never even seen a picture of one before. By putting real images, the reader will have a better understanding of the animal in general and can help connect the reader to the endangered species. One of my favorite pictures in the book is a sun bear being rehabilitated and being released into the wild. When you first glance at the picture, it looks sad because there is a bear behind bars. When you understand what is truly happening, and the sun bear is in a crate to be released, you realize how beautifully powerful that image is. Seeing pictures like this will help kids understand that there is a need for humans to help rehabilitate these endangered species and might get kids to want to follow that path themselves. Dr. Wong and the Orangutan and Dr. Wong and the Sun Bear theme is more on the ecological side. They are more about the science behind wildlife biology and what it entails to become a conservation biologist.
Many of the books being analyzed do an excellent job at showing how hard this subject is but through caring and our personal actions, we can make a change. There is one underlying theme between every book, and that is hope. Each book shows that we can make a difference: “Research studies have shown that the integration of children’s literature and science enhances literacy development, increases student understanding of difficult scientific concepts and increases interest and participation in science” (Monhardt 176). Through the teaching of endangered animals, children will gain a better understanding of not only difficult science but will also develop in literacy and critical thinking skills. Teaching hard subjects such as this one can be a difficult task, but very beneficial in many different ways. Teaching of endangered animals will open up the world to these kids and they are going to have a better understanding of how the world works around them. Most importantly though, incorporating these difficult books about endangered animals in children’s life will also help them get hope for the future and their actions.
Works Cited
Clinton, Chelsea. Don’t Let Them Disappear. Philomel Books, 2019.
Eggleton, Jill. Almost Gone. Gosford, N.S.W., Scholastic Australia, 2011.
Gaynup, Sharon. “Global Study of 71,000 Animal Species Finds 48% Are Declining.” Mongabay Environmental News, 5 June 2023, news.mongabay.com/2023/06/global- study-of-71000-animal-species-finds-48-are-declining/.
Li, Chunwang. “Protecting Endangered Animal Species.” Animals 14.18 (2024): 2644.
Monhardt, Rebecca, and Leigh Monhardt. “Children’s Literature and Environmental Issues: Heart Over Mind?.” Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts 40.3 (2000): 2.
Moriarty, Sinéad. “Modeling Environmental Heroes in Literature for Children: Stories of Youth Climate Activist Greta Thunberg.” The Lion and the Unicorn, Johns Hopkins University Press, 20 Oct. 2021, muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/819554.
Muthukrishnan, Rani, and Jane E. Kelley. “Depictions of Sustainability in Children’s Books.” Environment, Development and Sustainability 19 (2017): 955-970.
O’Brien, Kathy, and Darleen K. Stoner. “Increasing Environmental Awareness Through Children’s Literature.” The Reading Teacher 41.1 (1987): 14-19.
Pye, Sarah. Wildlife Wong and the Orangutan. Estralita Publishing, 2021.
Pye, Sarah. Wildlife Wong and the Sun Bear. Estralita Publishing, 2023.
Rabinowitz, Alan, et al. A Boy and a Jaguar. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.
“The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.” IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, 2024, www.iucnredlist.org/about/background-history.
Williams, Lily. If Sharks Disappeared. London, Wayland, 2018.