Customer Reviews

Rickie and Henri

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

 

 

Very compassionately written, this true story takes the reader (or audience) into a story about a baby chimp named Rickie, who is tragically separated from her mother by a hunter. Rickie is taken to a village to be sold, but a compassionate man (aptly referred to as 'Guardian') takes Rickie home with him and cares for her. When he goes on a business trip, Rickie bonds with Henri the scruffy dog.

I don't want to spoil the ending, so I won't. Our four year old son loves this book, and he doesn't impress easily! He's never had a problem with sitting through it and I never once got the impression that it was over head or too much for him. The books holds much truth, in a manner very appropriate for younger ones.

For myself, I loved the fact that Ms. Goodall refers to Henri and Rickie's "owner" as their Guardian, as it should be.

THere are more and more picture books about animals bonding to each other. Rickie and Henri is a very straight forward, detailed account of how a chimpanzee and a dog came to trust each other.

My seven year old daughter came home from school the week before last, telling me all about this book. She loved the story! It is well written with cute pictures. I am really glad I bought a copy for my daughter!

The illustrations and the story itself are appealing. But can a 4 to 8 year old picture book reader deal with text like this? "Good food is certainly necessary for an infant chimpanzee, but just like a human child, Rickie needed affectionate contact with a caring adult. She needed love." The same thought could have been gotten across better for this age group using easier and fewer words.