The first book in the Large Encyclopedias series presents animals that once walked the Earth but have vanished due to the actions of humankind.


In Atlas of Extinct Animals, award-winning poet Radek Malý tells the stories of forty-one extinct species and studies the causes of their sad demise. The large-format in Atlas of Extinct Animals is supplemented with beautifully expressive full-page illustrations by gifted artist Jiri Grbavcic and detailed pictures by renowned scientific illustrator Pavel Dvorsky.


The gorgeous, detailed depictions and descriptions of species and their eventual extinction serves as a reminder and a warning of how much life has already disappeared from the Earth. The atlas also shows that species continue to disappear. As we get closer and closer to present day, we are introduced to creatures that still existed in recent years, like the Zanzibar leopard (until 1996) and the Chinese river dolphin (until 2007). And in the end, we are left with a bitter question: Which creature will next be added to this atlas?


This book was selected by White Ravens 2020 for the annual catalog of book recommendations in the field of international children’s and youth literature.

Illustrated by: Pavel Dvorsky, Jiri Grbavcic