Customer Reviews

Animals of Africa

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have a child who is Autistic and 3 1/2 years old who fell in love with this book. He carries it around with him, although it is a bit big. His father (me) is a well known wildlife photographer who is an admirer of the photographic talent displayed in this publication. I recommend this publication highly to those who have an interest in African wildlife and the preservation of endangered and threatened animal populations. The only way this book may have been improved is if they used some of the photos that my sons father took. I still give it 5 stars!

I purchased this book as a gift for my 9 yr old niece who loves animals. She was absolutely astounded by all the wonderful photographs. My only regret is the few photos the author felt were a necessity..those of animals in the act of pro-creation were very graphic and I felt they definitely could have been left out. Not every book needs to include information like this.

No matter how many times I visit the game reserves of Africa -- fourteen safaris, and counting -- I never fail to witness something I've never seen before. The best coffee-table books on Africa offer the same allure -- which is why I collect them.

Though handsomely produced, "Animals of Africa" did fail to offer me something I've never seen before, principally because it's a book cobbled together from others. Four world-class wildlife photographers are represented here -- Jim Brandenburg, Mitsuaki Iwago, Frans Lanting and Michael Nichols -- but most, if not all, of the images selected for this compilation have been published previously in these photographers' own books. Couple that with text sections as dry and impersonal as encyclopedia entries, and the result is less than compelling.

If you're unfamiliar with the work of these great photographers, then by all means sample it in this recycled volume -- it's extraordinary -- but if you have a library of African wildlife books, as I do, you're likely to experience deja vu.

Don Shay, author of Endangered Liaisons

Beautiful pictures, a hight quality book. Just enough narration. Over 250 pages. Very happy with it.