Panda-Monium

The graphic novel format may especially interest some readers in this series. Each book in the series focuses on a story of animals that were rescued from some disaster. This one is centered in Chengdu, China, and the nearby Wolong National Nature Reserve. The earthquake that hit there in 2008 killed over 70,000 people. And it caused severe damage to the panda reserve. Some pandas were injured and killed, but this book tells of some who were rescued, as well. A page at the end also directs readers to two other earthquake animal rescue stories.

Combining high-interest topics–natural disasters, animals, survival, rescue–in an equally high-interest graphic-novel format, the Rescued! Animals Escapes series is a guaranteed hit. Each volume briefly explains the science behind a type of natural disaster before identifying a recent, real-life natural disaster and its threat to wildlife, farm animals, aquarium animals, and/or pets. Successive, short and easy-to-read chapters describe the rescue and aftercare of specific animals or types of animals, with dramatic and action-packed artwork adding intensity to the heroics. Deepwater Disaster centers on the Deepwater Horizon explosion that caused an oil spill in the Gulf that endangered numerous species of marine life, as well as brown pelicans, which are valiantly rescued and scrubbed clean here. Vanished in the Hurricane relates how Hurricane Katrina destroyed the dolphin tanks at an oceanarium in Gulfport, Mississippi, resulting in dolphins getting stranded in the Gulf, and their rescue by oceanarium workers. Water Everywhere highlights the extreme measures one Iowa farmer took to save his pigs before and after a flood. Wildfire Escape recounts the start of the Cedar Fire in San Diego and one woman’s evacuation of her numerous pets before the wildfire reached her home. The books conclude with descriptions of two similar animal rescues, a glossary, and related resources. With reluctant readers in mind, this series is educational and engaging.