Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World And Ours (Byron Preiss Book) [Hardcover]

Jane Goodall (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Byron Preiss Book

As a child, Jane Goodall dreamed of living with the wild animals of Africa. As a young woman, she amazed the world with her groundbreaking discoveries about chimpanzees, which she documented in her acclaimed National Geographic television specials. Ever since, Dr. Goodall has campaigned unceasingly for the protection of the chimpanzee ­ now an endangered species. This moving, personal account will inspire readers of all ages to join in her vital work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jane Goodall might be a household name for most grownups, thanks to her pioneering work with chimpanzees and more recent efforts at habitat preservation. But many kids don't know the Goodall story and will love this chance to hit the ground in Tanzania and learn about the remarkable scientist and her beloved chimp friends. With dozens of vintage photographs, Goodall recounts her early research in Gombe National Park, including a recap of her childhood and how she came to know Louis Leakey and first enter the bush. With clear and careful prose, Goodall explains her findings about chimp communities and communication, the role of hierarchies, and what sort of threats chimpanzees face today. Best of all, Goodall's account always keeps curious young readers in mind, even relating some of her mistakes, such as when she became too close to her subjects and interfered with her own research.

Young protoscientists will appreciate Goodall's frank descriptions, from kerosene-can-assisted dominance displays to her discovery that chimps engage in hunting and warlike behaviors, and hopefully, such detail will inspire further interest in the future of chimpanzees and other threatened species. Proceeds from the book will go to Roots & Shoots, a "grassroots environmental and humanitarian education program for young people" under the Jane Goodall Institute. Because "hundreds of roots and shoots--young people like you--around the globe can break through and make the world a better place for all living things." (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

From Publishers Weekly

Striking an admirable balance between scientific reporting and deep affection, Goodall's (My Life with the Chimpanzees) impassioned introduction to the creatures to whom she's dedicated her life's work may well ignite in readers a similar appreciation. "Chimpanzees are more like humans than any other creature living today," argues Goodall. She supports her claims with firsthand observations of chimp communication, relationships and behavior culled from 41 years of experience, primarily in what is now Gombe National Park in Tanzania. She describes with humor how the knuckle-walking chimps "don't like putting their hands on the ground when it is cold or wet," and records familiar sibling dynamics as Frodo follows his older brother Freud's examples. Dramatic close-up color photographs illustrate Goodall's unique relationship with her subjects; in one, she grooms alpha male David Greybeard; in another stunning scene, Jou-Jou, newly freed from captivity in a Congolese zoo, reaches out to touch Goodall's forehead. She documents the chimps' recognizable emotions of sadness, affection and fear, as well as their ability to create tools, learn American Sign Language and operate computers. An especially poignant story tells of eight-year-old Flint, who was with his mother, Flo, when she died: "He died six weeks after losing Flo. I think he died of grief." In closing, Goodall catalogues the many threats to the animals in the wild and in captivity, yet she ends this remarkable volume with a note of hope and invites readers to join her efforts in protecting chimps worldwide. Ages 8-up. (Oct.)be donated to Roots & Shoots, an education program at the Jane Goodall Institute.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 043921310X
• ISBN-13: 978-0439213103
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 10.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #879,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JANE GOODALL continues to study and write about primate behavior. She founded the Gombe Stream Research Center in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, and the Jane Goodall Institute for Wild Life Research, Education, and Conservation to provide ongoing support for field research on wild chimpanzees. She is the author of many books, including two autobiographies in letters, Africa in My Blood and Beyond Innocence. Today Dr. Goodall spends much of her time lecturing, sharing her message of hope for the future, and encouraging young people to make a difference in their world.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jane Goodall tells about her chimpanzees to a new generation, December 31, 2003

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World And Ours (Byron Preiss Book) (Hardcover)

My father subscribed to both "National Geographic Magazine" and their related series of books, the most memorable of which was about Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzees in Africa. The story of her work and the photographs of Fifi, Flo, Flint, Gremlin, David Greybeard and the rest were so enthralling. Many of those photographs, such as the one of infant Flint watching his mother Flo fish for termites and showing that man is not the only tool-using animal, are collected in "The Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World and Ours," which Goodall uses to introduce her exciting work to a new generation of young readers.

When she was a child Jane Goodall decided she wanted to go to the jungles of Africa and study its animals. Today she is one of the most renowned and respected scientists on the planet, having dedicated her life and work to the study of a community of chimpanzees at the Gombe National Park in Tanzania. In this fascinating book Goodall recounts her exciting adventure in making ground-breaking discoveries regarding chimpanzees and their profound similarities to human beings. She also talks about her struggle to protect this endangered species and their vanishing habitats.

Most of "The Chimpanzees I Love" looks at the Goodall's study of the generations of these chimpanzees, where we follow individual chimpanzees from babies to adulthood. Goodall provides simple descriptions of her discoveries, and often points out her own mistakes (naming her subjects was not exactly a scientific practice). Chapters are devoted to how she first made contact with and was accepted by the chimpanzees, how they communicate within their community, the relationship between mothers and babies, what a day in the forest is like, and the mind of the chimpanzees. At that point Goodall gets into the plight of the chimpanzees, including a distressing look at their lives in captivity and how they are being sold in markets in Afrcia. All of the proceeds from the sale of this book are donated to support of Goodall's international grassroots educational program, "Roots & Shoots."

"The Chimpanzees I Love" is both informative and inspirational, which is what you expect from Jane Goodall, who is one of the people who truly defined idealism for a lot of young kids in the Sixties. The idea that Flo's daughter Fifi, who was a little infant when Goodall began her studies, is now around forty years old and has had her eighth infant astounds me. But the one I miss is Flint, the first wild chimpanzee whose development was documented from birth through death, who turned out to be as much a child of the Sixties as the rest of us.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful woman, extraordinary book, October 30, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World And Ours (Byron Preiss Book) (Hardcover)

beautifully design and illustrated work by a woman who has devoted her life to chimpanzee rescue and understanding...(...)--this is for all children

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HOPE FOR FUTURE, September 5, 2008

By 

Dr. Nuclear Physicist "PHOTOPHYSICIST" (TEXAS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Chimpanzees I Love: Saving Their World And Ours (Byron Preiss Book) (Hardcover)

I BOUGHT THIS FOR MY DAUGHTER WHO HAS A BS IN BIOLOGY AND IS A HIGH SCHOOL TEACHER. SHE HAS BEEN A FAN OF GOODAL'S FOR YEARS. IT WOULD BE UNFORTUNATE IF PEOPLE IGNORE GOODAl's recommendations FOR our future BECAUSE OF HER CONNECTION WITH CHIMPS.