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A Love Letter to Nature—and a Wake-Up Call for the Future
Step into a world of wonder and warning with The Book of Disappearing Plants, a breathtaking journey through the vanishing green corners of our planet. This beautifully illustrated and powerfully written book invites young readers to discover the incredible stories of 30 plants that once thrived—and the urgent reasons they’re fading away.
This book reveals the silent disappearance of plant species due to climate change, deforestation, and urban expansion. But it’s not just a story of loss—it’s a call to action. With every page, kids will learn how they can become protectors of the planet and champions of conservation.
- A Powerful Environmental Message: Sparks curiosity and compassion for the natural world while teaching kids about real-world ecological issues.
- Eye-Opening and Empowering: Helps children see plants not just as background, but as vital, beautiful, and endangered life forms.
- Presents 30 Unique Plants: Arranged chronologically by the date they disappeared, this book describes 30 plants that have become extinct in the wild.
- STEM-Infused Learning: Introduces young readers to botany, ecosystems, and environmental science through engaging facts and real-world connections.
- Encourages Independent Learning: Includes web resources and suggested reading materials for continued education about endangered plant species and the natural world.
- Career Exploration: Lists 10 disciplines that focus specifically on plants, including agronomy, ecology, ethnobotany, phycology, phytopathology, phytology, mycology, forestry, horticulture, and paleobotany.
- Perfect for Classrooms and Eco-Conscious Families: A must-have for Earth Day, science classes, or any young nature lover’s bookshelf.
For over 75 years, Albatros Media has been crafting original and innovative children's books that are both playful and educational, fostering curiosity and a thirst for knowledge in young minds. We deliver the highest quality children’s books from novelty, picture, pop-up, and how-to books to nonfiction and fairy tales.
"In a reminder that animals aren’t the only organisms with species on or past the brink of extinction, this Czech import highlights 30 rare and vanished flora.Sekaninová begins with Cooksonia, the first plant with a true stem, a common ancestor of mosses and vascular plants that went extinct over 400 million years ago. Most of her entries, though, are drawn from the more than 570 known species that have gone in the past 250 years—either completely, like the St. Helena olive, or from anywhere except a few botanical collections. Accompanied by maps showing last or only known sightings and carefully detailed painted images by Podešvová of full plants or fruits and leaves, Sekaninová’s descriptive notes include likely explanations of why each species vanished, which range from climate change and hungry imported goats to land clearance and unsustainable harvesting. Still, using the word disappearing rather than something more definite in the title betrays an underlying optimism here that gone doesn’t always mean forever, and Sekaninová does mention recent reclamation projects that have brought back the Judean date palm and the Franciscan manzanita. Light-skinned explorers and collectors, some of whom are women, put in frequent appearances in the illustrations. Distressing but quietly hopeful and illuminating." —Kirkus Reviews
"This is a excellent book collecting extinct plants chronologically. The written text is clear and understandable. Every entry has an interesting information and offers a different presentation of the plant rather than dumping lots of information or having the same text. Enjoyable for a quick read. The artwork is hands down winner for me. " —Marianito Gonzales, Reviewer
Stepanka Sekaninova used to work as a TV reporter and in the production of children's programs. Now she is a writer and an editor-in-chief, living in the Czech Republic.
Eliska Podesvova is an artist and tattooist who is also known by her artist nom de plume Jen Sen. She has been creating original tattoos for more than ten years, and her work also extends to illustration. In her other creative activities, she combines watercolor painting, drawing, embroidery, and occasionally digital graphics. Originally from Ostrava, where she studied drawing, she now works in Brno, Czech Republic.