Customer Reviews

Amazon Diary: The Jungle Adventures Of Alex Winters

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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This was an amazing story, the book had awesome pictures! I really like the book it was just cool. I thought Alex Winters had an amazing adventure, well I read this whole book and it was a great book (diary). This was about a boy who was in sixth grade, his parents and father is a scientist and Alex wanted to be one too.Well, he was on a plane sitting next to the pilot and he was writing in his diary that his grandpa gave him. He was going to the Amazon jungle and it was Christmas! The plane crashed but Alex was alright but the pilot was out cold. He was still breathing! The Yanomami and Alex found each other and brought the pilot to their village and when they got there, there was some big guy ordering them to put him in the hut to lay down. Alex thought he was a chief! I just have to say Alex Winters had an incredible adventure and he did, did a good job on his diary!!

Author Hudson Talbott presented a fascinating talk for families at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County detailing his and co-author Mark Greenberg's journey into the Amazon. His description of their trip, plus the engrossing video of the experience helped explain why Alex Winter's fictional experiences rang so true. Mr. Talbott's respect for the Yanomamis and their world is very evident, both in his presentation and in the book Amazon Diary. All in all, a delightful presentation and a terrific book!- Nancy Fox, Education Division, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

I recently had the pleasure of hosting both Hudson Talbott and Mark Greenberg at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History where they presented a multi-media lecture for children based on their book "Amazon Diary". I was immensely impressed by the book before their visit because of its smooth integration of photographs, drawings and text into an exciting adventure story. Hearing first hand how their real-life adventures in the Amazon were incorporated into the book makes me admire the authors even more. - Jonathan Wilhelm, Director of Family Programming at CMNH

I sure did love this book! It was neat! The authors are really awsome. I love how the book was written in the eyes of an 11 year old! It is a truley unique and wonderful experiance. I give it 10 thumbs up!!!! If Mark Greenberg sees this, E-mail me! Thanks a Ton!!!

Let me start by saying I teach 5th grade. I was looking for materials to use in my classroom during a continent study of South America. I came across this book and thought it would be great to share with my class when we got to Brazil. The book is very creative and exciting and is a great resource of information. However, there are pictures of young Yanomami boys and girls, nude. I know this is a part of their culture, but it made the book difficult to use in a school setting. So I am just putting that out there for any other teacher (or parent) to consider, considering that this is listed as a children's book.

Yes, "hybrids" are in cars, foods and in *fact/fiction books* such as this "AMAZON DIARY" by 2006 Caldecott honoree Hudson Talbott.

The reader gets a large dose of excitement and some knowledge as a side effect. Twelve year old Alex is writing diary entries telling "what I did on my vacation" to outdo all his schoolmates' efforts. Flying above the Amazon jungle in a small plane, he & his pilot crash en route to meet Alex Winter's anthropologist parents for an educational winter break (no pun intended). They are rescued by 'fierce' members of a Venezuelan Indian tribe, the Yanomami. The pilot does not recover consciousness for many days; meantime Alex learns about the life of his rescuers in their deep rain forest environment. By osmosis he absorbs environmental concerns that will stay with him for life. If only ALL LEARNING could come this painlessly!

The *Diary* is hand-printed and crowded with sketches (including some by Indian children?), paintings, and excellent informative photographs by Mark Greenberg, all adding up to a perfect selection for that RELUCTANT READER in your family/or/class. The "diary" was published in 1996; in 2003 Talbott authored & illustrated a similar adventure, "Safari Journal" (# 015216393X) about another young teen encounter, this time with wild animals in Kenya. Reviewer mcHAIKU touts these 'travel packages' for the whole family to share.