How to Save a Species

How to Save a Species brings readers as close as they may ever get to some of the most endangered animals and plants on earth. Highlighting the efforts of scientists, communities, and campaign groups, it includes the astonishing success stories of species that have been saved from the edge of extinction, as well as urgent cases in need of immediate action. With a logbook-style layout and color photographs throughout, the book profiles 17 of the world’s 100 most endangered species as identified by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) — a list reflecting research from thousands of experts from around the world, including coauthor Dr. Jonathan Baillie. Young readers can delve into the fascinating world of animals and plants as rare and interesting as the humpback whale, spoon-billed sandpiper, wild yam, and pygmy three-toed sloth, and will come away with a newfound understanding of the cooperative work and action plans needed from both scientists and citizens to protect a species from extinction.

Grade: 4
Fountas & Pinnel: S
Lexile Measure: 1060L
Common Core State Standards:
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.4.4,4a,4c,6
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RF.4.3,3a,4,4a,4c
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.4.2,2a,2b,2d,2e,6,7,9,9b,10

Marilyn Baillie has enjoyed a varied career as an award-winning children's writer, a nursery school teacher, a lecturer at the Royal Ontario Museum, and a children's magazine and book editor. The author of numerous beloved children's books including Amazing Things Animals Do, Animals at the EDGE, and Whoosh! A Watery World of Wonderful Creatures, she lives in Toronto. Dr. Jonathan Baillie is Conservation Programmes Director at the Zoological Society of London, where he is responsible for conservation projects focusing on threatened species in more than 30 countries. In January of 2006 he founded the EDGE of Existence program, which focuses on Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species. He lives in London. Ellen Butcher works for the Zoological Society of London. She worked on a team that published a new list of the species closest to extinction called Priceless or Worthless. She lives in London.