Thanks to Netgalley and Quarto for this illustrated look at the history and future of conservation!

I liked the way that it showed what the Earth was like without much human interference and how it showed that Indigenous people had been respecting the Earth and not causing this issues, placing blame where it was due as far as personal responsibility. I wish it had focused a little more on the fact that big companies are a large part of the problem, but perhaps that would go over the intended audience's head. My children (7 and 10) had no issue following along with it as it was written.

5★
“Over time, humans became part of life on Earth and got their food from wild plants and animals. They painted their stories on cave walls: stories of battles between beasts and predators. These early people lived as part of nature.”

This is a simple but surprisingly comprehensive summary of human life on earth. The illustrations are childlike sketches (which I love), with lots of detail.

PREHISTORY
It explains that dinosaurs have gone, and the first humans get their food from plants and wild animals. They draw pictures of their life in caves. “They live as part of nature.”

Some continue to hunt and gather, while others begin to tame animals and cultivate land for crops.

1600s-1830s
People begin trading and accumulating land and wealth, creating powerful empires for the benefit of the rich.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“Driven by a hunger for land and wealth, powerful empires stole land and resources from communities around the world. They felled great forests for building, boats, and fuel.”

1800s
Then they discovered coal, oil, and gas, and the Industrial Revolution spread around the world. Cities grew, but indigenous people who lived far from these areas continued to live as part of the natural world.

Others escaped from the cities and became naturalists, studying the natural world. Men and horses coughed, working in the coal mines.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“These naturalists learned from ancient science and shared exciting new discoveries about the natural world.”

1870s-1900
In North America, indigenous peoples were looking after the land, but they were pushed off by European settlers who claimed the resources for themselves. They also learned the value of protecting natural wonders and founded the world’s first national park, Yellowstone. That was the beginning of national parks around the world.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“This idea of protecting nature spread… but the voices of Indigenous peoples were mostly ignored.”

People hunted animals for trophies, and in the American West, the pioneers wiped out millions of buffalo. Conservationists began to worry about the destruction of the natural world. There are drawings of a tractor with a big spray rig and people looking at empty birds’ nests.

1935-1962
“Scientists talked about fixing the problems that humans caused. They recorded, measured, and observed nature to find out more.

The spotlight fell on farming. In North America, a scientist called Rachel Carson studied chemicals used on crops to kill pests. These deadly crop sprays were poisoning birds, other wildlife, and potentially even people too. In a bestselling book*, she explained how nature works and why, without birds, the world risked falling silent in spring.”

(*See "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson)

1960s
New technology led to space exploration and the pioneering Apollo 8’s incredible photograph of “the brilliant blue marble rising out of inky blackness.”

Exploration closer to ‘home’ found people discovering the world under the oceans. The blue dot photo from space and the pictures of strange creatures in the ocean “inspired wonder that transformed people’s view of life on Earth.”

1970s-1980s
People began gathering to protest against deforestation and the air pollution that burned a hole in the earth’s atmosphere. World leaders banned the chemical causing the hole, which inspired other activists to join the protests.

I will mention here that the illustrations and references are to sites around the world. In the Himalayas, the Chipko movement had a group of women join hands to hug a tree, inspiring people everywhere.

1950s-1990s
Scientists were studying, sharing facts, exchanging ideas, exploring. Antarctica was shown to be unique.
“Evidence from these expeditions persuaded world leaders to protect this white wilderness and today it is the only entire continent protected for science and nature conservation by law.”

1988-2007
Scientists explained what damage is being done to the atmosphere by burning fossil fuels. Rich countries use more resources than others and are causing damage worldwide.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“But people are connecting across continents to campaign for change. In Japan, local communities blocked coal-fired power stations polluting the global environment. They used powerful evidence to boost support for renewable energy plans.”

In the Arctic, polar bears are seen going to big black garbage bags to forage for food, with one saying “I’d rather eat a juicy seal” while another is swimming through the ocean with very few small ice patches, saying “I’m tired of swimming.”

2017
Scientists are studying the Pacific Islands to understand how people have been managing their environment and coping with climate change. There have been so many tourists that the fish numbers were low.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“Working alongside scientists, fisherfolk stopped fishing where stocks were low and over time sea-life returned and coral bloomed!”

TODAY
Both poverty and urban demand has seen a disturbing increase in ‘wild-caught’ meat, threatening endangered species with extinction. In China, people are raising rabbits, snails, and bees instead of hunting.

Wildlife rangers are using camera traps for information and for teaching children about looking after nature.

“All species have an important role to play and without diversity in nature, both people and wildlife are in trouble.”

Greed is a problem, which means the natural world and wild places are getting smaller and more isolated as land is being used to make money. Many people are trying to do their bit to help fill the gaps.

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“Migrating birds crossing continents need wetlands to rest, and in urban landscapes, pollinators like bees need flowers to feed.”

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“In the Norwegian capital of Oslo, bee-friendly flowers in gardens, on rooftops, and on windowsills create a colorful pollinator pathway across the city.”


“All over the world, when people take only what they need, nature blooms. Barren seas refill with fish, forests regrow, wildlife returns, and ecosystems flourish.”

My Goodreads review includes an illustration with the caption:
“The most urgent challenge is to live in harmony with the natural world—and everyone, everywhere, is involved.
People in richer countries must stop driving climate change.
People in poverty must be heard.
People in power must lead decisions that benefit nature and people. Consumers must live more sustainable lives…”

Are we ready to do our bit? They suggest asking questions and encouraging people to make good choices. There is a handy glossary at the end.

This has an enormous amount of material presented simply and attractively. The illustrations have so many tiny details that you’d be hard-pressed to notice them all the first time through. For me, that’s the sort of picture book that keeps readers (like me) coming back to it.

I could imagine each page leading to a good discussion, whether it’s with a group, or between two readers. First-rate production, and great design. It’s a good companion for their previous book, "The Story of Climate Change."

Thanks to NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children’s Group for the copy for review.

The Story of Conservation brought the conversation to life for my young child, aged 5! A conversation that is hard to understand and even harder to articulate, these beautiful illustrations and easy explanations are critical! This book provides the foundation to synthetic learning, we are able to bring this book into the real world and have the conversations as we encounter. This book is perfect for any scouts, homeschooling communities, and families who want to teach the next generation the importance of saving our planet!

This is such a great book for children. This book provides children with a clear understanding of what climate change is, how it has and continues to occur, and things we can do to improve it. The author does a great job at keeping this easy to understand but still stresses the importance of taking care of our earth and everything on it.
The illustrations were beautifully done, they brought the book to life and helped convey that very important message.

I especially liked the timeline with dates at the bottom of the pages. There is a lot of information concisely explained throughout the book. I think it is important for young readers to learn the changes humans have made over time.

I'm passionate about conservation and want to instill in my children the importance of protecting our planet. I was very excited to see this children's book about the topic. The Story of Conservation is the perfect book to explain the importance to your children. The book gives a history of why modernization started to harm nature and why the idea of conservation came to be. I loved the large section about scientists exploring our seas, space, and more to better understand nature and the affect of humans. The end of the book gives a helpful glossary of terms. Overall just a really great book and I highly recommend. The illustration is colorful and almost looks child-like which my young kids really enjoyed. This would be a great book for new readers and the classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - Frances Lincoln Children's Books for allowing me to be an early reader. All opinions are my own.

This is a beautiful book with eye-catching and sweet illustrations, accompanied by short text that tells the importance of nature, our environment, and why it needs to be protected. The focus on indigenous peoples was fabulous and needs to be in more books.

This fascinating and beautifully illustrated book spans the complete length and breadth of the topic of conservation. Combining history with science, this deeply insightful book charts the changes in our understanding and relationship with conservation, from the beginnings of the planet when humans didn't consider their impact on their surroundings, to the modern world and what we can do to protect our natural resources today.

I appreciate the complex task it is to create an informational text on conservation for children. The author, however, does a brilliant job blending language that is accessible to young children, while being factual and socially responsible. This texts offers a young reader an introduction to conservation across the centuries, with a heavy focus on North America initially, but covers conservation across all the continents . This work of non-fiction is excellent for a younger elementary crowd around 6-8 years old.

Catherine Barr’s “The Story of Conservation” is a lushly illustrated overview of human interaction with planet earth. It explores the positive ways people have worked with the natural environment as well as the ways humans have caused harm.

I liked that the story is well-balanced in that there isn’t a consistent message that human land use is bad. It makes clear that we have work to do to protect our planet, but does so with a message of hope rather than of doom.

The illustrations enhance the story. Amy Husband does a great job with the rich, yet whimsical pictures that help tell the story. As a read aloud, it would be great to pause and have students describe what is happening in the illustrations.

This story is great for children who are interested in learning about human interactions with our planet. “The Story of Conservation” would also be a great way to introduce older students to the topic in an easy to understand way.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A brilliant introduction to what conservation is and how important it is in the fight against climate change.

The book highlighted some important topics such as the extraction of fossil fuels, deforestation, sea level rise, and global warming. I was really impressed with the mention of land being stolen from indigenous communities, as that's not normally something spoken about in children's books, but it is so incredibly important.

An overall wonderful book!

This introductory book is a foundation for young readers to understand the concept of conservation. the book starts off with the prehistoric era and goes through early human settlements to the current times.
Very informative book to teach young readers about the history of conservation, and to understand the ways to preserve the environment.

For me, reading this book is preaching to the choir.
The first third is a review of how "progress" has come to the point where conservation has become vital to the continued existence of the flora and fauna of planet earth. Then it progresses to what is needed and how things are progressing in a positive manner with hope for the future. There is even a glossary to help the reader understand some words.
The illustrations by the Amy Husband are delightful, imaginative, striking, and brilliantly colorful.
This book is well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Quarto Publishing Group/Frances Lincoln Children's Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

This is a colourful picture book, and from the illustrations one would think that it's intended for smaller children. The kids drawings and the funny speech bubbles are very cute. The copy however is long and is mostly written in adult language. The expressions used, the sentence structure, the abstract ideas - they are not for an average 5-6yo. While older kids may prefer a more mature visual words. So the copy and the pictures seem like an odd pairing to me.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for an Advance Review Copy.

This would be super way to introduce children to the idea of conservation in an age-appropriate way. Each page contains short amounts of text which would be accessible by a confident reader and a timeline from prehistory to modern day. The book will certainly encourage children to ask questions about the world they are growing up in.

A beautiful introduction to conservation for a generation of children. The illustrations add depth to the well-researched and accessible text. I'm glad to have read this and would recommend to any child.

What a stunning non fiction full of bits of history of this planet and useful facts, all explained in a manner children will understand, and adults might learn from, too!

This is a good jumping off point for teaching children about conservation. The illustrations are enough to keep small children interested through the wordy nature of some of the pages, while those words are enough to keep older children on topic and learning. While this book does cover a lot of time in very few pages, there’s enough information provided to spark questions and further research if the child in question is old enough and interested enough to pursue it. Basically this is a jumping off point, and it’ll work well for that purpose!

This would be a great book for elementary classrooms for students to learn about conservation. It’s very well organized and that makes it super easy for children to understand. My nephew really enjoyed this book and loved all the illustrations.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Very informative book on how he history of conservation.

Not sure of target audience, pictures were good for smaller children but was extremely wordy with a lot of big words.

I enjoyed that it took a multicultural, international approach, telling stories from all over the world.

I think this book would be more successful tool in school if it was shortened and the words were larger print.