Gone Wild, an Endangered Animal Alphebet (Scholastic) by McLimans, David (2007) Paperback - Softcover

Our planet is home to so many plants and animals that it is impossible to know exactly how many species are sharing the earth with us. So far, scientists have named and described almost 1.5 million species, yet ninety percent of plants and invertebrates still haven't been identified. Over time, people have taken over more and more wild places, creating challenges and dangers for the other creatures sharing those spaces. There are more than 5,000 animals facing extinction today. The twenty-six endangered animals featured were selected because they presented visual opportunities. Our alphabet's letters developed over centuries from pictures and symbols. Picture writing, or pictograms, represented the object being portrayed. In a way, this alphabet is a return to picture writing. The challenge for the author in creating these images was finding endangered animals whose shape and form fit naturally together with the letters that begin their names. Except for the letter X, all letters correspond to the animals' common name. For X, the scientific, or Latin, name is used. The earth is an amazing, beautiful, wondrous, diverse, and fragile planet. By protecting and saving animals and their habitats, we are also protecting ourselves.