MEET THE MEGAFAUNA!: Get to Know 20 of the Largest Animals to Ever Roam the Earth by Gabrielle Balkan, Illustrated by Quang And Lien

MEET THE MEGAFAUNA!: Get to Know the 20 Largest Animals Ever to Roam the Earth
Author: Gabrielle Balkan
Illustrator: Quang And Lien
Published: June 27, 2023 by Workman Publishing

Summary: The world’s largest animals come to life in this interactive book featuring 20 megafauna, 10 gatefolds, full-color illustrations and tons of facts!

An interactive (complete with gatefolds!), large-format exploration of megafauna, the mostly-extinct class of ginormous animals that thrived during the Pleistocene era after the extinction of the dinosaurs. Meet a giant armored armadillo, a giant sloth, and the three megafauna still found on earth today—African Bush Elephant, Masai Giraffe, and the Blue Whale.

Review: This book is stunning. The illustrations are captivating, and there is so much to learn. My first grader can recite more dinosaurs than anyone I know, so he was thrilled to dive into this book. For weeks, he’s been telling strangers about the megafauna. Reading this book made me feel like I was visiting a vivid museum—the gatefolds make it particularly exciting to read. I highly recommend having a copy of this one in your classroom.

Tools for Navigation: Students could research an animal in history and create their own gatefolds!

Discussion Questions: