Let's learn about the most mystifying species to ever walk the Earth!
Plib is like every other N��rfbl��k kid on Earth, except for one thing.
He loves humans--those horrible, terrifying monsters who dominated the planet ten million years ago.
Only one thing about the humans bothers Plib. What happened to them all? Did they turn the planet into an uninhabitable wasteland? Or did they turn on each other? Or did the humans die out because of something else they did--or didn't--do?
Everyone knows a child who is smitten with dinosaurs, whether it's your son/daughter/niece/nephew/fiance/business acquaintance. It's all they can think and talk about.
What if children in the far, far, I really mean the FAAAR future, like ten million years FAAAR future, what if those children regarded then extinct humanity in the same way?
Humanity is gone, and the Earth is now inhabited by the Nøørfbløøk, who seem to have evolved from frogs, and one Nøørfbløøk kid named Plib just can't stop thinking and talking about humans!
Nobody knows for sure what happened to them, there are suggestions about climate change offing us, or maybe silly wars, or the rich denying the poor a better life.
Fascinating about this picture book is that it tackles some pretty dark material, but isn't depressing at all! There is a lesson to be learned, for sure, on how we should avoid a self-fullfilling extinction, but it's told with a light touch, and it's quite moving.
The art is wonderful, and helps the book remain a children's book. Important message, fun book.
Read it to the child of your choice, and perhaps read it to your significant other (if there is one), because it's a lesson we could all do with hearing again.
(Thanks to Black Sheep for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)
I would love to read this with my kid because it tackles MAJOR issues with humanity and the way we treat each other and the world, but it's also cute and clever.
In How Did Humans Go Extinct?, it's 10 million years from now and frogs have evolved into the dominant species, the intelligent Nøørfbløøk. At the museum with his class, little Plib guesses possible reasons for the humans' annihilation. Sobering, funny science fiction.
A twist on humans going extinct, kind of like the dinosaurs. They didn't know if we had feathers, or exactly why we went extinct. It brings up things like pollution and kindness.
Love the reframing of how we see history by treating extinct humans like we do dinosaurs. A clever way to introduce the concept of questioning historical narratives to kids.