How Did Humans Go Extinct?

K-Gr 2–In 10 million years, humanity as we know it will cease to exist, replaced by anamorphic frog-like green beings called Norflbooks. In this new version of Earth, humans are regarded and depicted as a monstrous, uncaring species whose extinction is caused by pollution and conflict. They are, as it turns out in the Norflbook world, speculative legend without redemptive qualities. This is true for all except Plib, a young Norflbook so excited about humans that he even owns stuffed toy humans. A trip to the “Human Exhibit” in the Natural History Museum incites such curiosity that he resolves to find out what happened to the humans by asking his mother. Hoppe’s ( Last But Not Least Lola) illustrations are comical, yet also bleakly illuminate the dangers of being unkind to the environment and to one another. The humans on display in the Natural History Museum are exaggerated images of what the Norflbooks think humans looked like, as well as items that have contributed to pollution. It is a clever, if not scary, way to bring awareness to the very real threats to humanity posed by war, climate change, and capitalism.