This is a book about Jane Goodall and her time with the chimpanzees in Africa and some of the observations she made. I did not care for this book very much, the writing is repetitive and you do not really learn much about Jane or her time in Africa. It does talk about some of what she did and observed while in Africa but it does not go into much detail about anything. I would not read this in a classroom setting, but a child could perhaps read this on their own in maybe first grade or beyond. ( )

Jane Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees
by Bette Birnbaum

This book is a biography of the English zoologist, Jane Goodall, describing her early experiences in Gombe, studying wild chimpanzees. Bette Birnbaum opens the book with colorful illustrations by Frederick Porter and discusses Jane Goodall's love of animals when she was little and her dream of seeing wild animals in Africa. Jane's dream began to come true in 1957 when she did travel to Africa and helped a scientist named Dr. Louis Leakey study animal bones. In 1960, Jane went to Gombe, in Tanzania, Africa and began looking for wild chimpanzees. Initially, Jane was not able to observe the creatures because they were scared of her. After some time though, the chimpanzees grew to trust Jane and she was able to observe them eating and doing lots of other things. Jane named them and took a lot of notes about what she saw. Through Jane's tenacity and patience, she made observations and the information she recorded helped scientists and all of us learn about wild chimpanzees.

This book is ideal to illustrate to an audience of K through 3rd graders how to be patient and learn how to observe an animal in it's natural setting. To encourage a child's appreciation of this book, students could make bird feeders and hang them outside a window at home. Students could then observe the birds that visit the bird feeder and make written observations of the birds' behavior and draw pictures of the subjects. Children could also observe other native wildlife (ie squirrels, chipmunks, insects) or even a family pet and share the information with the class. ( )