This is a beautiful book. Rewilding (Bringing Wildife Back To Where It Belongs) by David A. Steen and Chiara Fedele is a work of art, but a work of art with a message about ways to save animals.
As the title suggests, this picture book for older readers explores the tricky science of re-introducing species of animals and plants — who are either no longer in their native landscapes or are on the brink of being lost to the landscapes — to their native habitats.
From the Tigers of Sariska to Snot Otters to Wild Horses, Lynx and Peregrine Falcons, to Island Foxes and Maine Caribou, and so much more, the book explores the success, failures and worries of the movement to help animals get a solid footing in places where humans or climate change have forced them out. The book acknowledges rather openly how difficult the process can be, and how controversial it can become, particularly when it comes to larger predators being introduced in areas where farms and communities have been established.
But the overall theme is one of finding balance in nature, and of humans doing their part to perhaps right some of the wrongs of the past, when our need for land and resources overrode our need to share the land with other creatures. There is no one fix, nor one way to make amends, the book suggests, but perhaps, with our own skills in science and innovation, we can help some species to survive.
The artwork in the book is wonderful, and engaging, and this book would be a perfect fit for any upper elementary or middle school classroom.
Note: I read this book because of Write Out kicks off in a few days. More information is here: https://writeout.nwp.org/ It’s free, place-based activities connecting writing and inquiry to the National Park Service, and other spaces, through the coordination of the National Writing Project.
Peace (saving it),
Kevin