Review by New York Times Review
A pair of biographies connect a pre-eminent primatologist's lifelong work to her childhood fascinations. WHEN you consider Jane Goodall's happy British childhood, largely spent outdoors and filled with horses, dogs, chickens and pet turtles - earthworms tucked beneath her pillow at night - and her adult life as the world's pre-eminent authority on chimpanzees and an influential conservationist, you can't help wondering: why haven't there been more biographies of Goodall for young readers? Two new picture books, "Me . . . Jane" and "The Watcher," help fill the gap, and both, wisely, connect Goodall's childhood to her later achievements. Even as a young girl, Goodall dreamed she would one day travel to Africa and become a naturalist - not an unusual childhood fantasy. But Goodall actually went on to study under the famed anthropologist Louis Leakey, and to work in Tanzania. Her research methods were unconventional. Rather than assigning numbers to chimpanzees and studying their behavior from a distance, she immersed herself in the life of a chimpanzee troop, gradually winning its members' trust. The qualities of patience and observation she displayed as a child serve her well as a primatologist. "The Watcher," by Jeanette Winter, a lively and elegant introduction to its subject, opens with 5-year-old Jane sitting in a chicken coop, determined to find out where eggs come from. Though the biography is conventional in its chronological account of Goodall's life, there is a poetic quality to the writing - a meter that tempts one to read the book aloud. Winter's text is spare (''Jane quietly watched an English robin at her window for days and weeks"), and the artwork, with its strong colors and flat shapes, almost childlike. Her decorative style, pleasing as it is, fails to express the characters of the individual chimpanzees, an important part of the story. But the paintings arc more sophisticated than they might first appear. Patterned foliage echoes the rhythm of the words. Goodall is often a tiny figure in a rich landscape -a formulation that feels true to her story. "Me ... Jane," by Patrick McDonnell (the creator of the comic strip "Mutts") takes a different approach. McDonnell, working with the cooperation of Goodall, makes no attempt to catalog the arc of her career. Instead, he writes about her childhood, which was spent in the company of a stuffed toy chimp named Jubilee and books like "The Story of Doctor Dolittle" and "Tarzan of the Apes." With engravings of animals and natural artifacts stamped in soft colors and McDonnell's simple line and wash drawings. "Me ... Jane" evokes the charming journals of a child naturalist. Some of Goodall's own sketches and drawings are included, and they feel at home here. McDonnell's skill as a cartoonist enables him to express Goodall's joy, wonder and satisfaction with a simple stroke of the pen. "Me ... Jane" ends with an illustration of Goodall falling asleep next to Jubilee "to awake one day ... to her dream come true." A moving photograph shows the adult Goodall reaching out to a baby chimpanzee, which is reaching back to her. The book closes with a page about the naturalist's life and work, and a heartfelt message from Goodall herself. For any child interested in animals, exotic locales or how dreams can actually come true - have I left anyone out? -both books provide a satisfying and complimentary introduction to an extraordinary human being. Following her dreams: Jane Goodall cherishes a stuffed toy in "Me . . . Jane," top, and lives among the chimpanzees in "The Watcher." Steve Jenkins has written and illustrated many science-related books for children, including, most recently, "Time to Eat," written with Robin Page.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [May 15, 2011]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Winter adds to her growing shelf of exemplary picture-book biographies with this stirring introduction to Jane Goodall's life and work. The meaning in the title becomes clear in the first pages: Goodall's passionate love of nature began in early childhood, when she watched ALL the animals in her world, big and small earthworms, insects, birds, cats, dogs, and horses. As an adult, she moved to Tanzania with the desire to learn things that no one else knew, and she does just that, making the study and protection of the chimpanzees in the Gombe forest a focus of international fascination. Once again, Winter distills her subject's life into elegantly simple language that has the lyrical rhythm of poetry, while well-chosen excerpts from Goodall's journals bring an even greater sense of her personality and the immediacy and thrill that comes with sustained scientific observation and connection with animals. The vibrant acrylic paintings showcase Winter's signature patterned compositions, richly saturated colors, and elemental shapes, and echo the graceful polish of the words in scenes of Goodall living and working in the dense forest; and young children will enjoy spotting the chimps hidden in the trees. An author's note rounds out this beautiful celebration of one of the world's most influential animal advocates.--Engberg, Gillian Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With her customary care, Winter (Biblio-burro) covers the whole of primatologist Goodall's life and work: her childhood observing animals and dreaming of Africa, her fateful meeting with Louis Leakey, early encounters with the chimpanzees ("David Greybeard has-yes-he has TAKEN BANANAS FROM MY HAND"), and, years later, her departure from Gombe because her "beloved chimpanzees were in danger of becoming extinct. They needed Jane to speak for them." The story's drama comes from the suspense of approaching the chimps, little by little; it took months for trust to build and required trials like sitting out in all kinds of weather: "She saw the chimps accept the rain, not look for shelter, as we do." Winter's repeated, stencil-like patterns give a sense of the wealth of green and the endless reaches of the Tanzanian landscape. (The chimpanzees don't fare as well; her flat style doesn't lend itself to the nuances of expression that distinguish primate individuals.) It's a fine introduction both to Goodall's life and to the idea that excellent science can come from nothing more than close, extended observation. Ages 4-8. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1-3-Watching is an apt theme for this picture-book introduction to Goodall's notable studies of chimpanzees. Drawing on the scientist's autobiographical writing, Winter begins with five-year-old Jane watching egg-laying in the henhouse. The childhood years of animal watching and finding inspiration in books such as Dr. Dolittle and Tarzan move quickly into Goodall's adult travel to Africa and meeting Louis Leakey. The long, often solitary years as a watcher of chimps are the main focus, succinctly described and depicted in wide, stylized acrylic paintings suggesting the expansive forest terrain. "Now Jane watched every day, all day-even huddled in the rain. She saw the chimps accept the rain, not look for shelter, as we do. And she kept notes about it all." Goodall's great piles of notes filling her tent are among many bits of humor tucked into the spare scenes. Her childhood is the subject of Patrick McDonnell's Me...Jane (Little, Brown, 2011). Children who are already independent readers will be intrigued by The Watcher's hard-earned encounters with the chimps. This more fulsome account closes with Goodall's world travels to speak out about saving the chimps, a timely note touching today's environmental concerns. As in The Librarian of Basra (Harcourt, 2005) and other biographies, Winter takes readers to a far part of the world in an appealing story for children who love animals or like books about real people.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This tranquil picture-book biography establishes from the beginning that Jane Goodall has always had the right temperament for the work that made her famous. A marvelous opening scene shows her at age five, sitting patiently in a henhouse, not emerging until able to announce to the frantic relatives searching for her that "I know how an egg comes out!" The theme of persistence, particularly in relation to observing animals, shapes the spare, inviting text, which takes Goodall from backyard observations to scientific study of chimpanzees in Tanzania. In Winter's signature stylized paintings, the jungle is rendered in cool blues and greens, and the pictures of Goodall's earliest days there offer the viewer playful games of hide-and-seek. One panorama has Jane sitting on a peak with binoculars while down below, unseen by her, chimps peep from the brush. The book does perpetuate the misconception that Goodall was alone during much of her field research (when in fact, from the outset, locals transported her gear and helped her find the best spots for viewing the animals). Yet overall it gives an accurate, visually appealing account of her discoveries -- that chimps eat meat, use tools, etc. -- and of her transition from watching chimpanzees to campaigning tirelessly to save them. Back matter not seen. christine m. heppermann (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
(Picture book/biography. 2-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
