Book Review: Don't Let Them Disappear

The conservation of endangered species can be a gloomy topic - it's hard to have a conversation about "endangered" without the concept of "extinct," and it's almost impossible to discuss "extinction" without "death."  Not surprisingly, this can be a tough subject to discuss with young children.  This is unfortunate, because young children are exactly the audience that we need to get messages to about animals and how wonderful they are, and what a tragedy it would be to lose them.  It's an awkward balancing act sometimes.

Strolling onto the tightrope to give her shot at the subject is none other than former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton.  Clinton's children's book is called Don't Let Them Disappear, and it takes children on a trip around the world to visit 12 endangered animals.  It focuses on iconic species which children probably have already heard of, such as tigers, giant pandas, and polar bears (though whale sharks sneak in as the token non-mammal).  Each animal is the subject of a two-page spread, illustrated with beautiful drawings by Gianna Marino.  The spread is also accompanied by a block of text about the animal, along with a few fast facts, such as where the animal is from and why it is endangered.

If Ms. Clinton's book could be subject to one critique, it's that perhaps it has a little too much text and dives into a little too much detail for the intended audience, children 4-8.  Then again, maybe it doesn't.  I can't imagine reading it to a toddler, but kids are all over the spectrum when it comes to animals and their interest in them.  I was absolutely single-minded about them when I was a kid (still am, as it so happens), and six-year-old me would have not been deterred by this at all, and possibly would have been irate that she limited herself to only 12 animals, and ones I'd already heard of at that.  For a more... normal audience, however, the book may be a tad wordy.  Most of the text is taken up with fun facts about the animals, only gently bringing up the reasons for their decline.

I heard Ms. Clinton read from her book and describe the story behind it last year, during her roll-out tour.  Fittingly, she was touring zoos and aquariums across the country to promote the book.  Part of that tour involved her addressing the AZA Mid-Year Meeting in Phoenix, which is where I heard her speak.   Being the daughter of Bill and Hillary Clinton, and this being the age of Trump, you might have expected her speech to wade into other political matters - it never did.  She spoke instead of how she had always loved animals, a passion fostered by her visits to the zoo as a child, and how having young children of her own reminded her of that passion as she got to learn about animals again through her children's eyes.

I'm sure that there are plenty of people who would turn their nose up at a book by anyone with the last name of Clinton, viewing it as yet another aspect of our never-ending culture wars.  Hearing her speak, however, I remind myself that somethings shouldn't be political - that just because a prominent Democrat feels one way about an issue that is important doesn't preclude Republicans from caring about it the same way.  Perhaps that's why this works especially well as a children's book.  Kids aren't Democrats or Republicans.  They're kids.  They care about what they care about, and generally want to help.  It's an example that wouldn't be the worst if we all followed.

Don't Let Them Disappear at Amazon.com