From School Library Journal
Grade 4–8—This inspiring biography chronicles the conservationist's studies of wildlife around the world. Schaller has spent his life counting, observing, and photographing wild animals, from mountain gorillas in Central Africa to snow leopards in Tibet, and providing data to encourage governments to protect their habitats. The book is arranged chronologically in chapters that intertwine vignettes of his contacts with individual animals with information about his research techniques. The writing is both clear and lively. The book ends with brief reports on progress in each of the areas where he worked. Schaller's own sharp color photos show readers the specific animals mentioned in the text. Helpful features include maps at the beginning of each chapter, suggestions for how to get involved, a list of Internet and multimedia resources, and an extensive bibliography. Fans of Jane Goodall and Diane Fossey will enjoy getting to know Schaller, who preceded these women in establishing observation as a way to study animals in the wild.—
Ellen Heath, Easton Area Public Library, Easton, PA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
*Starred Review* The author of Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes (2005) offers another excellent introduction to animal conservation in this biography of pioneering environmentalist Schaller. Organized chronologically, the chapters begin with Schaller’s childhood flight from Germany to the U.S. in 1947, when the young animal lover, able to take only a few possessions to America, chose a treasured collection of bird eggs. The majority of the book, however, focuses on Schaller’s adult career as a researcher who transformed field biology with his studies of gorillas, tigers, lions, and other wild creatures around the globe. In clear, detailed prose, Turner shows how Schaller rejected the nineteenth-century approach to studying exotic animals (“find it, kill it, examine the corpse”) in favor of low-impact methods, proving that “a supposedly dangerous animal could be observed in the wild with minimal risk.” Turner’s vivid, moment-by-moment descriptions of animal encounters will captivate readers, as will Schaller’s color photos and reproduced field notes, which illustrate the chapters along with maps indicating the locations of his studies. Young environmentalists will welcome the appended material, which includes a “Getting Involved” section. Relying heavily on Schaller’s own writings as well as interviews with Schaller and his wife, Turner’s stirring portrait spotlights a scientist’s invaluable contributions to animal study; the gritty, thrilling particulars of fieldwork; and the urgent necessity to protect wild creatures and their habitats. Grades 5-8. --Gillian Engberg
