Amazon.com Review
Alexander McCall Smith, best-selling author of the celebrated
No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, connects with an entirely new audience with his beginning chapter book series featuring a young African boy fiercely devoted to the conservation of his animal friends. Akimbo lives on the large African game reserve where his father works, and is constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to see or learn something new. In
Akimbo and the Elephants, the resourceful Akimbo helps foil an elephant poaching ring by secretly taking ivory seized by the park wardens and offering it to known poachers. When the poachers take the bait and invite Akimbo along on their illegal hunt, the boy slips away from the men and alerts the authorities. In
Akimbo and the Lions, Akimbo helps raise a lion cub that is accidentally caught in a farmer's trap and learns the true meaning of sacrifice when he must release his beloved Simba back into the wild. While Akimbo occasionally comes close to real danger, (an angry bull elephant charges towards him; a cornered lioness threatens him and his father) Smith always brings his small but determined hero safely out of harm's way, having both learned a valuable lesson and gone on a great adventure. First published in the UK in 1990, resourceful Akimbo is being introduced to an American audience for the first time, and will undoubtedly be warmly welcomed by young fans of Ann Cameron's
Julian stories, and Paula Danziger's
Amber Brown books.
--Jennifer Hubert
From School Library Journal
Grade 2-3–The author of the adult The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency mystery series originally published these delightful children's stories in Great Britain in the early 1990s. His short, illustrated chapter-book adventures will transport American readers to the plains of Africa where Akimbo lives with his parents on a Kenyan game reserve. His father works as a park ranger, and, on occasion, Akimbo is allowed to accompany him while he works. In
Elephants, the two encounter a dead elephant, killed for its tusks. When the poachers aren't found immediately, Akimbo devises a plan to catch them in the act. After several suspenseful moments, the boy's simple, yet innocent plan works. In
Lions, the child accompanies his father and other rangers as they investigate news of lion attacks. The plan is to trap the marauding animal and take it to another area, but by accident, they capture its cub. The African setting, dramatic full-page pencil illustrations, and the animal facts woven into the stories are sure to capture young readers.
–Mary N. Oluonye, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
