The Extincts, Quest for the Unicorn Horn, graphic novel go-to for 8 and up

When I saw the cover to The Extincts, Question For The Unicorn Horn it was an immediate connection to  The O.W.C.A. Files. For a period in our life, when our kids were older than five and younger than 11, we saw Phineas and Ferb at least once a day. Thus, we’ve seen The O.W.C.A. Files, which was a stand-alone episode that aired after that series finale. In The Extincts, Quest for the Unicorn Horn, we see a cat, bird, frog, and wooly mammoth-looking creature all wearing spy gear and running towards the reader. It’s a graphic novel by New York Times Bestselling Illustrator Scott Magoon that does much the same in that it jumps into your hands like a kitten that wants its belly rubbed. And I say that in the best of all ways possible because I love it when a cat or kitten jumps near my hand and wants to be scratched.

As a method of entertainment, we absolutely love graphic novels. They can encourage students to read from a young age and provide a lifetime of enjoyment. As an educator, I know that graphic novels are not the only form of literature that students should be exposed to. Some graphic novels that we’ve read do an excellent job of combining entertainment, that sensation of effortless reading, and on some occasions, education. The Extincts, Quest For The Unicorn Horn has all of those elements in a way that blurs biology, STEM, robots humor, crushes and so much more.

The graphic novel opens up in an action sequence. The team is monitoring a museum in Stockholm as they’re trying to catch a thief in the act. Said thief is attempting to steal a sword that’s been created from 22 Megalodon teeth. R.O.A.R, Rescue Ops Acquisition Rangers is the team that stopped the theft and they’re made up of the aforementioned four animals.

However, as the title of the book infers, the agents that makeup R.O.A.R are actually creatures that should not be here. The common frog is actually a Collins’ Poison Frog, the cat is a Saber-Toothed Tiger, the bird is a Passenger Pigeon, and the mammoth-looking thing is actually a Woolly Mammoth. They’re anthropomorphic heroes that died off years ago, and when their foes are defeated they let them know that they’re finished, as in not supposed to be here. To wit, Martie, the Passenger Pigeon quips, “You’re finished buster”, which establishes a steady, and enjoyable current of puns that follow The Extincts throughout the book.

The group goes on to another assignment, this time to the Batagaika Crater in Russia. They’ve been tipped off that a criminal is after a tusk that once belonged to the Siberian Unicorn. The crater is expanding, thus revealing new permafrost that’s attracting bone hunters of all sorts. The horn that belonged to this dinosaur is thought to have mythical powers.

That’s a lot of real science that happens in The Quest For The Unicorn Horn. More than a couple of times while reading it, I had to stop and confirm that what I was reading really happened, or actually exists. Everything that I mentioned in the previous paragraph is true. The members of R.O.A.R also do a science experiment in which they pour super-cooled water into a mold and make an ice key. This is cool because at the bottom of that page it tells you that there’s an at-home version of this experiment that you can try.

The art in the book perfectly matches the character’s vibe and the personality of the story. It’s got a slightly retro feel to it and uses contrasting colors on most of the pages. The effect is that you’re reading a classic espionage story, albeit with extinct animals taking over the main roles.

The writing is sharp, very smart, and funny. It’s the way that some kids want to learn, by not even realizing that they’re learning. The story rips along at a great pace, there’s lots of action and kids will doubt that aspects of the story are true. Of course, some of the elements are complete fiction, however, it’s those non-fiction elements, the ones that seem plausible, that will get them to thumb through to the back to see if it’s really true. Think Investigators but, slightly older and more STEM, Mission Impossible, but with anthropomorphic animals researching anthropology or simply a great, go-to graphic novel for ages eight and up.

The Extincts, Quest For The Unicorn Horn is by New York Times Bestselling Illustrator Scott Magoon and available on Amulet Books, an imprint of Abrams Books.

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