The World's Last Mammoth and Other Missing Marvels

By Author / Illustrator

Mike Barfield, illus Franziska Hoellbacher

Genre

Non Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Weldon Owen

ISBN

9781783425259

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

30-04-2026

Synopsis

From the missing pages of the Library of Alexandria to the whereabouts of Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster, The World's Last Mammoth and other Missing Marvels is a treasure trove of mysterious and long-gone things: absent animals, bygone buildings, missing monarchs, past palaces and more... But all is NOT lost - along the way you'll also find the survivors and modern marvels of things gone by.

Explore the lost splendour of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, ponder the fate of historical figures like Cleopatra or Genghis Khan and unravel the mystery behind Amelia Earhart's disappearance. And while we may no longer have dinosaurs, we have fascinating fossils to ogle at instead. We can call the Dodo's closet-living relative, the Nicobar Pigeon, and even though the dancing plague of 1518 is long gone, dance trends like Gangnam style still spread like wildfire today.

This book is a thrilling exploration of things long gone but never forgotten. Be warned - you may find yourself getting lost in laughter along the way!

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Reviews

Sue

Attention-grabbing illustrations, plenty of jokes and an incredible array of fascinating facts about some amazing things and people which are no longer around make The World’s Last Mammoth and Other Missing Marvels endlessly entertaining! Perfect for dipping in and out of or devouring from cover to cover, there is something here to engage even the most reluctant historian.

Divided into eight sections, the book starts with the seven wonders of the Ancient World (making the point that the Great Pyramid is still with us!). Other sections focus on lost leaders such as Puyi, lost buildings such as Crystal Palace and myths such as 'Bigfoot'.

Each topic is accompanied by a page of other things, both past and present, on the same theme and each section concludes with a 'Still with us' page, focusing on other mysterious and marvellous historical treasures.

Written in a very chatty, engaging style, a huge amount of information is conveyed succinctly in a variety of ways, including comic strips and fact boxes. Humorous illustrations add to the fun and interactive elements such as a quiz and a page to create a personal 'seven wonders' further engage readers.

Although this is a must-have for classrooms, teachers will have a hard time prising their pupils away from it when trying to teach them something else! ‎

96 pages / Reviewed by Sue Wilsher, teacher