Double Helix reviewer, Elvie, had questions after reading The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Extinct Animals, here’s what author Sami Bayly had to say.

Sami Bayly, author and illustrator
Q: What are some small things we can do as kids to help with wildlife conservation?
A: One of the most important things that kids can do is to become educated on the topic. Perhaps that’s through reading books, watching documentaries or visiting nature reserves, wildlife parks and zoos. Because in order to look after our amazing planet, we need to understand it first.
Q: What are the biggest causes of extinction?
A: The biggest causes of extinction today are habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, hunting, overfishing and the introduction of invasive species. However, for many of Earth’s prehistoric animals, they went extinct due to catastrophic events like cooling climate, volcanic eruptions and asteroids colliding with the planet.
Q: What inspired you to become a natural history illustrator and what advice do you have for kids who might want to follow a similar path?
A: It was my love of amazing animals/plants that inspired me, as I wanted to illustrate them and share their stories. My advice is to study the world around you. Whether it’s a dead leaf, a cicada wing or the ducks at your local park, sketching will help to improve your skill.

Q: What materials did you use for the illustrations and what was your process?
A: I used watercolour paints to bring my illustrations to life. Using a mixture of wet-on-wet and wet-on-dry techniques, I add multiple layers to create the desired textures, shadows and details. I then scan them and turn them into digital files for the book to go to print.
Q: How did you go about choosing which animals to include?
A: It was tricky to choose, so I aimed to have a mixture of large, small, ancient, modern, cute, strange, well-known and unknown species. That way I could cover a large area of topics and appeal to many different areas of interest.
Q: What is your favourite part of writing and illustrating books?
A: I would have to say that my favourite part is actually obtaining the knowledge and understanding of each creature myself. I gain so much insight into the natural world when I create my books, whether it’s about the animals’ ecology or perhaps just their physical appearance, it’s always fun.
Elvie’s review will appear in Double Helix issue 78, due out on 1 March 2025. Subscribe to Double Helix now to receive this as your first issue!
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