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Davies, Nicola

Last: The Story of a White Rhino

32 pp. | Tiny Owl | September, 2020 | Trade ISBN 978-1-910328-64-4 $16.99
(2) K-3 In this sad yet ultimately hopeful picture book, the last remaining Northern White rhino recounts its experiences, from a childhood in Africa to its capture and relocation to a zoo in the Czech Republic (as we learn from the informative author's note). The creature knows it is the last of its kind because it has looked and looked but hasn't found another like itself, despite remembering seeing others "long ago in the old place," including its mama (but "one day she fell down and lay still"). The rhino is captured, sedated, and wakes up in a cage in the gray city, with other "lasts." All through the illustrations, after the rhino's arrival at the zoo, a girl observes the animal from various vantage points--outside its enclosure; from her apartment window. Finally, the rhino is sedated again, and this time wakes up where there is grass and two other rhinos. The girl looks on from a field, her presence inviting readers to flip back and see what role she may have played in freeing the creature. The spare text allows Davies's mixed-media illustrations to shine. Judicious use of color highlights times and spaces of freedom and nature; smaller panels convey the passage of time; shifting perspectives generate interest; and collage elements including "random snippets of advertising slogans, and short phrases from famous environmental speeches" create texture and context. The rhino's realistic eyes add to the story's poignancy, and the uplifting message about the power of action on behalf of nature is one we all need to hear. Notes on the illustrations and the true story of the last Northern White rhino round out this conservationist tale.
Reviewer: Autumn Allen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2020

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