NOT EXTINCT

An elementary school–age educational foray into the mysterious, endangered Przewalski’s Horse.

One of hundreds of endangered species in the world, the Przewalski’s Horse is remarkable because it was saved from the brink of extinction by teams of determined zoologists. Much smaller than the average domesticated horse, the Przewalski’s Horse or “P-Horse” is a wild species native to the Asian steppe. The author describes how these horses were originally introduced to the Western world by Col. Nikolay Przewalski in 1878, after being well known to locals in Asia for centuries. They were once an abundant species but by the 1950s were totally extinct in the wild and reduced to only thirteen horses living in various zoos and institutions, mostly in Europe. Scientists at an international symposium in 1959 agreed to find a way to once again increase their numbers and, eventually, reintroduce the horses to living in the wild: “To save the horses from extinction, zoologists started with a small goal: search zoos for P-horses that were the right age and physical condition to breed.” After 40 years, more than 500 P-horses were in existence, so researchers released a small herd into the wild in 1992. Thanks to their continuing efforts, and despite major difficulties, P-horses have been downgraded from “extinct” to merely “endangered” in official parlance. This book, Pattison’s follow-up to Jesus Loves Me: A Pop-Up Storybook (2025), sheds a great deal of light on an interesting but underrepresented species in children’s nonfiction. Its optimistic tone is carefully measured, realistically presenting both successes and setbacks. However, it lacks clear organization, both chronologically and thematically. The narrative starts in 1959, then skips backward almost immediately to 1878. Then we shift to the 1960s and back to the present again without explaining the backstory of this unique species and the reasons for its extinction until at least halfway through. Large, bright photographs, both historical and contemporary, bring the P-horse to life for readers.

An informative, age-appropriate introduction to a little-known endangered equine species.