The Thylacine and the Time Machine by Renée Treml

Title: The Thylacine and the Time Machine

Author: Renée Treml

Genre: Narrative Non-Fiction

Publisher: Allen and Unwin

Published: 1^st April 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 164

Price: $17.99

Synopsis: Violet is researching the Tasmanian Tiger for a school project when she is visited by the ghost of the last Thylacine, who takes her on an amazing trip in a time machine. A fascinating and funny graphic novel exploring the past and future of the most enigmatic extinct Australian native animal.

Buckle up! The time machine awaits!

Join twelve-year-old Violet, her dog Tassie and her new friend Thyla – the ghost of the last Tasmanian Tiger – on a wild ride to learn all about the legendary, elusive and extinct thylacine.

Could there still be hope for one of Australia’s most missed (and misunderstood) native animals?

Packed full of fascinating facts about the terrible past and (potentially) exciting future of the Tassie Tiger.

~*~

Twelve-year-old Violet is trying to finish an assignment at the last minute on the thylacine and the potential for bringing it back from extinction – and whilst working on it, she’s visited by the ghost of the last thylacine, Thyla. Thyla takes Violet and her dog, Tassie on an adventure through time – into the past, present and future to understand the thylacine and what happened to it, and the attempts scientists are making to bring it back, or studying how they might be able to. It’s well-known that the last thylacine died in 1936, and in recent years, there has been hope that its extinction can be reversed. Or, can the research help us save other species from extinction instead?

As Violet and Thyla travel through time, science and history come together to explore the world that the thylacine once lived in and what led to its extinction and the ethical considerations involved when thinking about bringing a species back from extinction. It explores how the process works and what is needed, and the time it would take. But it also opens up what Violet calls the sticky bits and questions – is it right? How would we manage it? Can the current environment cope? How would it impact other species? Are there enough prey species to balance the biodiversity and world that the thylacine would need to live in? What seems like an easy question – would you bring the thylacine back if you could? – is much more complicated and layered than it seems.

Given there are no easy answers, this book presents the ideas and challenges in an accessible way for all readers, even though this clearly laid out graphic novel is aimed at middle grade readers. Everyone can get something out of this book – there are things that I learned from it about other marsupials and close relatives to the thylacine, which shows that children’s literature and books offers accessible information for readers of all ages. Information like this is what I think makes many children’s books so good. They have a universality about them for everyone, because I feel that you can learn new things from them, or relate to them in so many different ways.

As an adult, learning from children’s books has been fun. They’re not too dense or condescending, they share information joyfully and make it interesting. And that’s what this book does – teaches people about the complexities of de-extinction, the ethics and what can be done in an easy to understand and accessible way, that is also a really fun read. And astute readers might notice a few cameos from Sherlock Bones amidst Renée’s little animals with snippets of information about the world Violet is exploring with Thyla. Educational books like this are great to read and share, and can be used for many age groups in many ways – as there are layers to explore and many different conversations to have that will reflect how someone has read the book and what they got out of it.

And remember, we do not want to bring back dinosaurs from extinction!