The Book of Vanishing Species: Illustrating the Rarest Creatures, Plants and Fungi on Earth

by Beatrice Forshall

Our Earth is more beautiful and more diverse than we can possibly conceive of.

The Book of Vanishing Species is a stunning homage to the planet's most mysterious, bizarre and wondrous creatures and plants. Their stories are captivating, from the eyeless and tiny dragonlike olm to the hawksbill turtle, whose gender will be determined by the temperature of the sand it is born in. These species may have survived for hundreds of thousands of years by cleverly adapting to their environments, but their future remains far from certain.

The book brings to life red cranes as they dance and bow for the sheer joy of movement, trees that breathe out a haze of misty atmosphere for insects that only feast on one kind of flower, a deep-ocean snail quietly building its shell from iron... and each one of them is illuminated with an exquisite illustration. As you turn the pages, there emerges a network of life that stretches across and around the planet in a dazzling web of existence.

This is both a love letter to life on Earth, and an urgent summons to protect what is precious and lovely in this world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science

256 pages, Hardcover

Published November 29, 2022

Reviews

[Diana Ishaqat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lyrical writing, a lot to takeaway, and imaginative illustrations. Like some other readers, I wasn’t very fond of the last section. I think it could have been omitted, but perhaps this was the dominant narrative of personal responsibility above all as the vehicle of change. I enjoyed this read. It also doesn’t have to be read in order if someone is curious about some species. The section on the Asian Elephant particularly stood out for me. We really are doing hideous damage to an extraordinary world.

[Nikki Ong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zo mooi!!!!

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly stunning in its illustration and prose, and heart-wrenching in its contents. I have never been more heartbroken and ashamed when reading a book. I cannot recommend this book enough; this is what children should be reading in schools.

I really like the fact that she includes some evidence-based action points at the end. If everyone stopped overconsuming, eating meat, etc. - then yes, we would notice a significant shift in industry, and hopefully, eventually, in our natural world.

I would also add education/paradigm shifts: If we stopped seeing the natural world as something to conquer and exploit, would homo sapiens feel so at ease destroying animals' habitats, killing them for fun or torturing('displaying') them in captivity? I don't think so.

Finally, another paradigm shift: homo sapiens is not separate from nature and we certainly cannot exist without it. The people who are legislating and initiating efforts to destroy our natural ecosystems - do they even know how much we depend on these in order to regulate CO2 in the atmosphere? (Just to name one).
We are killing organisms that we don't see (the most rapidly vanishing species are insects!!) And that we have never heard of before out of greed, irresponsibility and ignorance.

[Raven Zmolik · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a masterpiece when it comes to documenting the species that are slowly disappearing from our planet. The poetic verbiage and outstanding illustrations made this book so easy to read. The story told was equally beautiful, sad, but also eye opening.
Contrary to what other people were saying, I loved the last chapter. Humans often have a hard time being told they need to change and taking accountability for their actions. People who are offended by the last chapter probably fall into that category. I, personally, think it’s important to know what the each of us as INDIVIDUALS can do to protect what we love.

Anyways, 10/10. I can’t wait to read her next book.

[Shriya Uday · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was incredible. The perfect mix of abstract and specific. No complains there.

This was originally going to be a 4 star review, with a star docked because I felt a lot of entries were missing some context in regards to conservation complexity.

However the very last section, 'Treading Lightly' is what made me dock the extra star. Individual change can affect conservation when it is used for lobbying for greater changes on a national or regional level. Lifestyle changes will not have the effect the author thinks they will have.

[Monica Haak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Waanzinnig interessant!

[Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wat een prachtig boek. Wauw, ik ben echt zwaar onder de indruk van Beatrice Forshall's tekentalent. Bovendien heb ik ook veel geleerd over al de verschillende diersoorten door alle informatie die bij elke tekening stond. Ik moest steeds stoppen om even te gaan Googelen. Ik wilde telkens meer weten en dat is natuurlijk ook de bedoeling van Forshall's boek van (bijna) verdwenen dieren. Ze wil de lezer iets bijleren maar ook tot actie aanzetten. Want als er niets verandert, kunnen we binnenkort die 'bijna' van de titel schrappen.

Bedankt aan Uitgeverij Lannoo en Fontaine Uitgevers voor dit reviewexemplaar.

[Fien Danniau]

Plankton is start levensketen, produceert 50-80% van de zuurstof op aarde, eet plastic.

Mamoetboom/sequoia kan 3000 jaar oud worden maar sterft vroegtijdig door gebrek aan sneeuwwater en te felle branden, kap ca 1850 is start van milieubeweging in VS en nationale parken. Maar hoe tijdelijk was de redding gezien de impact van klimaatverandering op de levensduurte.

(Chaco)pekari is soort zwijn dat enkel leeft in Gran Chaco, woud in Paraguay. Pas in 1975 in levende lijve gespot, men dacht voordien dat het prehistorisch was uitgestorven.

Noordelijke rotspinguïn met buitensporig fraaie kuif broedt slechts op 2 eilandengroepen. Rond een daarvan is nu, na grote olieramp, 700000km2 zeereservaat.

Walrus. Minder poolijs=> 15% zwakkere golfstroom. Waar ijs verdwijnt worden nieuwe aardolieboringen aangevraagd.

Sinaï-tijmblauwtje is de kleinste vlinder ter wereld. Zelfde cyclus als gentiaanblauwtje. Even fragiel want kan maar 230 m vliegen.

Koala. Meer CO2>snelgroeiende Eucalyptus > minder voedzame bladeren > koala kan onvoldoende verorberen/dag want maag is te klein > koala ondervoed

(1) Noordkaper. 🥺 er resten nog 356 van deze ‘beste walvissen voor de vangst’: ze zogen en zwemmen aan oppervlakte en blijven drijven na hun dood. Dat is wel zo gemakkelijk. Niemand weet waar de dieren paren. En oja, ze konden praten met elkaar van de ene kant vd oceaan nr de andere, maar nu is er te veel lawaai onder water. “Wanneer de aantallen balleinwalvissen werden teruggebracht naar die van vóór de vangst, dan sloegen ze het equivalent CO2 op van uitstoot Brazilië.”


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[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really good, yet also sad and confrontational look at various threatened species across the planet, whether it be animals or plants or fungi. Definitely not one to read if you're not in the mood to be sad, but at the same time it's well-written and keeps the reader engaged.

My only gripe would be that the Dutch edition which I read has a slightly deceptive title, implying this book is about animals only (it's not) and also covers both alive and extinct animals (it does not, it only covers currently still extant species). This is of course something separate from the original release so it does not factor into my rating, but still a bit distracting when you're not getting what the title promises.

Full review at: https://skybookcorner.blogspot.com/20...

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

so good

This is a wonderful and very sad book . It is also beautifully illustrated, if ever a book is going to make you be more responsible to the planet this is the one .