Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry and Picture

K-Gr 3—Opening with an earnest invitation to "see what we can save—together," Alexander and Sartore have crafted a stunning journey through the animal kingdom. The book implores readers to pause and look each animal in the eye, to soak in the majesty and diversity of nature. Alexander's haiku is lively and at times deceptively light, containing lines that carry with it the staggering weight of conservation and extinction, hope and loss: "grandfather of the hunt/FIERCE and FAST/and favored, forever?" accompanies a full-spread photo of the Malayan tiger, its gaze level with readers'. Not to worry, though—there is a bit of fun to be had, too, from the likes of an impossibly cute doe-eyed Bengal slow loris, poetry that recalls kid-friendly movement (leaps, stomps, howls), and typography that mirrors sound (for "coils of hiss," the letters float up the page). Visual epiphanies also abound: the pairing of an African leopard and the similarly spotted bobtail squid inspires a sense of unity while highlighting, in exquisite photographic detail, their unique traits. A "Chorus of Creatures" midsection directly addresses readers and urges them to consider their actions and assist in caring for wildlife. Three foldouts identify the animals featured (the photos are part of Sartore's larger Photo Ark project, which aims to photograph every captive species).