Meet the Megafauna! by Gabrielle Balkan

What worked:

Engaging information about extinct, colossal animals from the past fills the pages of this book. Many of the animals, like the supercroc, resemble creatures that are still seen on Earth today which makes them more relatable. Grasping the concept of time is difficult when talking about hundreds of millions of years but the author shares how scientists break it down into eons, eras, periods, and epochs. The book is full of colorful illustrations, ten with fold-out pages, that include the habitats and different age levels of the animals. Some show predator/prey relationships. The informative narrative is written in a style that’s pleasing for young readers so they don’t become bored with reading dry facts.

The descriptions of the creatures are accompanied by boxes filled with facts. While most young readers won’t care about their scientific, Latin names, the enormous sizes and weights are sure to impress. Imagine a twenty-foot giant ground sloth roaming the plains while tipping the scales at over 8,000 pounds! The boxes also share the megafaunas’ modern relatives. A fifty-foot giant snake, related to the green anaconda, was able to eat a 20-foot crocodile or a 5-foot-wide turtle. Readers can also discover where the creatures were found and how long they existed on Earth.

The back pages include an expected glossary with definitions and explanations of megafauna words. Terms like fossil, extinct, prehensile, and paleontologist are among them. Another page shares different possibilities to explain why the megafauna creatures may have died away. Shifts in temperature and land masses may have killed animals unable to adapt in time. Early humans were a “significant factor” in the disappearance of some animals hunted for food and other uses. Another page proposes ways of protecting today’s megafaunas. The book also shares other resources if young readers are interested and motivated to learn more about the megafauna.

The Final Verdict:

This book checks all of the boxes as far as non-fiction books for kids go. The engaging text and large, colorful pictures are sure to keep readers entertained, and the topic of giant animals usually draws universal interest. I recommend you give this book a shot.