Customer Reviews

Little Panda: The World Welcomes Hua Mei at the San Diego Zoo

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

 

 

I'll be perfectly honest: I love following Hua Mei's story at the San Diego Zoo web site. I'm a complete sucker for panda stories. So I was pleased to finally see a more permanent record of Hua Mei's first year.

While I bought this book for the photographs (which are plentiful, large, and beautiful), this book should also appeal to children and parents because of its text (or perhaps I should say "texts"). The author has written two parallel texts: one fairly simple and straightforward for younger readers, printed in large type, and a slightly more complex one in smaller type, giving more detailed information about pandas. By creating a book that appeals to more than one reading level, Ms. Ryder has given us a book that parents will be able to share with their young children as they grow older and learn to read.

Make no mistake; this is not a detailed textbook about pandas. If that's what you're looking for, I recommend George Schaller's LAST PANDA (also available from Amazon.com, coincidentally enough). But this is a good introduction for young children, who may be able to indentify with the young Hua Mei. For older panda lovers, this is an excellent collection of photographs. The only thing that keeps me from giving this book five stars (besides the fact that I never give anything five stars) is that I can never get enough information about Hua Mei.

The photos in this book are absolutely amazing! Starting with Hua Mei's 1st teeny tiny black & white photo camera that had been installed inside the panda den, and the book ending 1 year later. I can't say enough about the photos!

This is the 1st year in the life of Hua Mei and is pronounced Hwa May. In China, one name can mean different thing and Hua Mei's means Splended Beauty AND China-USA. The birth of Hua Mei in 1999 in the San Diego Zoo connects both China, the country where pandas roam and here in the Us where she lives.

This is one of those books that grows with it's young reader! The author Joanne Ryder lots of information on each page. There is a big bold font that tells the story and then a smaller not so small font that gives additional information! I just can not say enought wonderful words about this book! A definate book to have in your home library!

This book with its beautiful real-life illustrations would be a great one to give a child as a gift. It would acquaint him or her with the life process of a baby panda's first year. The words and sentences are short and readable for a child in the early grades. It would also be a good read-aloud book for someone with a small child who loves to be read to. I highly recommend it.

My daughter is panda-crazy, so we purchased this book as a Christmas present. It was everything we hoped it would be: nice overview of panda development leveled for kindergarten/first grade readers. It has straighforward text for younger readers, coupled with more detailed information for older readers. With my 3 year old son, we read the straight text; with my 5 year old daughter we read the little detail blurbs as well. It has lovely photos and since it deals with a baby panda it was a huge hit with my kids. I would recommend this to anyone with kids who love pandas, or anyone looking to add science/nature books to their pre-school/kindergarten collection. Additionally, I would recommend Emperor's Egg, which deals in a similar way with penguins, although it uses illustrations rather than photos.