Posts Tagged ‘Jane Goodall’

In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall book review

In the Shadows of Man

by Jane Goodall

Ahh, the classic Jane Goodall book, In the Shadow of Man.  This was Jane’s first mainstream book that was published back in 1971.  The subject of this book?  Studying the wild chimpanzees and the life she lived while observing them.

In the Shadow of Man captures animals as emotional beings, something that had rarely been done. Goodall tells the story of the “F” family of chimpanzees and follows other families with many photos to go along with the stories.  It is fun to read about the chimps playing and fighting with the babboons followed by seeing a photo of a baboon charging a chimp while the chimpanzee throws a rock to defend itself.

There are many fantastic photos of Jane Goodall and the chimpanzees.  With 64 total pages of black and white photos you can really understand the life Goodall and her photographer ex-husband Hugo Van Lawick lived while.

Hope for Animals and Their World Book Review

Jane Goodall’s new book, Hope for Animals and Their World: How Endangered Species Are Being Rescued from the Brink Goodall shares fascinating survival stories about endangered species whos populations are now being regenerated thanks tot he help of zoos across the world.

Scroll to the bottom of the review to preview Jane Goodall’s new book.

With the help of zoos, Jane Goodall and the Cincinnati Zoo Director Thane Maynard share 34 animal stories that describe how amazing groups of dedicated people prevent the extinction of animals by working hard to save the animals they love.

These uplifting and hopeful stories will touch your heart and show you that humans can in fact make a difference in this world and they may inspire you to get out and help, which is Jane Goodall’s ultimate goal.

Example of one of the Animal Stoires: Golden Lion Tamarins

Golden Lion Tamarins at the National Zoo in DC

Below i will present to you one of the animal stories on the rare and beautiful Golden Lion Tamarins that are found in South America.  The small monkeys  were almost extinct a few decades ago but thanks to the National Zoo’s involvement along with other zoos and institutes around the world they helped save the species.

Jane Goodall visited the National Zoo back in 2007 and saw the Golden Lion Tamarins for the first time face to face and was marveled by their beauty, describing them in the following way “I was enchanted.  They are like living jewels of the deep forest with a lion-like mane.  As i watched them, slightly apprehensive with so many strangers in their new home, i felt a surge of gratitutude for all the hard work and tears that had prevented their extinction.”

Free Range Golden Lion Tamarins at the National Zoo in D.C.

The Golden Lion Tamarins at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. is a fascinating story in which i got to witness for myself.  In 2007 the zoo let a few of the families roam freely in a small patch of forest on the grounds of the National Zoo.  This would allow them to become familiar with tree top travel and living before being released in their future home in Brazil.

The innovative decision to let the small monkeys range freely on the grounds of the National Zoo was a bold and successful move, and the separate families established their own small territories that were about 100 square meters in range, something they would have done in the wild.

Hope for Animals and Their World by Jane Goodall

I am lucky enough to live close to the National Zoo and got to see the Golden Lion Tamarins roam the grounds of the zoo.  I spotted them between Sea Lions and Siamangs.  They were very high in the trees and it was great to see free range monkeys in North America!  The following year one of the Golden Lion Tamarin families gave birth to twins in the small mammal house in which i watched for many months.  The baby Golden Lion Tamarins were so much fun to watch and photograph, they had so much energy and loved to explore their territory.  I often saw the young Golden Lion Tamarins trying to play with and groom the Sloth couple, they seemed to really be fascinated with the big furry slow guys!

There are many animal stories like this in which innovative and brilliant people decide to try to save the animals they love.

Not only are there many great animal stories, Jane Goodall and Maynard give a great appendix in the back of the book on different ways you can help your favorite animals that you read about in the book.  This section gives you the information on where the best place to go to take action on the situation by donating and volunteering to the right organization, what products to stay away from and so much more!

Preview Jane Goodall’s Newest Book

Smile of a Dolphin not only covers dolphins but many other animals. Find out how expressive animals really are!

Remarkable Accounts of Animal Emotions

If you have ever wondered if animals truely can express emotions to their fellow beings, this book will do a great job of convincing you that they do.  The Discovery Channel backed this book and the editor, Marc Bekoff, found more than fifty experts on animals to present observations of animals evoking some kind of emotional response to such situations as losing a child, confronting an enemy, choosing a mate, or being tricked, chastised, challenged, played with, or picked on.

There are many famous “animal people”, one of them is Sue Savage-Rumbaugh of Georgia State University.  You may remember her name if you read my previous review on the book about Kanzi the Bonobo Chimpanzee who had learned to communicate with humans by learning with Lexigrams.  Another contributor, Frans de Waal, is also an author which i have wrote about, writing the “Tree of Origin” book which is a must read for evolution/animal lovers.   And i am sure you have heard of Jane Goodall, who adds two amazing stories, one of which is included in it’s entirety below. Along with these and other amazing people, there are over 120 color photographs of various animals obviously showing some kind of emotion.

How the Book is Presented

The book is a collection of very short stories, usually around 2 pages long, which makes this a GREAT coffee book or bathroom book (eww).  There are a total of four chapters:

1. Chapter One: Love
2. Chapter Two: Fear, Aggression, and Anger
3. Chapter Three: Joy and Grief
4. Chapter Four: Fellow Feelings

My favorite section of the book is the last chapter on Fellow Feelings, which tells 16 stories that include the Goodall, Waal and Savage-Rumbaugh entries.  There is one touching story by Jane Goodall that i would like to share in it’s entirety (please note that all the stories are not as sad as this, i just wanted to share this because of how emotional it is).

A Sorrow Beyond Tears
by Jane Goodall

Chimpanzees, differing from us genetically by only just over one percent, can’t be said to weep, for they don’t shed tears.  Yet they show behavior that’s associated with sadness, depression, and grief in humans: soft whimpering, crying sounds, listlessness, lack of appetite, avoidance of others.  And they show those behaviors int he same kind of situations that we do.

In 1972, in Africa’s Gombe National Park, the almost fifty-year old matriarch of our study community died.  Flo, as she was called, was with her eight-and-a-half-year-old son, Flint.  He should have been able to look after himself, easily.  Yet he’d developed a strange, abnormal dependance on his old mother, probably because she hadn’t had the energy to wean him properly.  All day he sat near her body at the edge of a small, fast flowing stream.  Occasionally he approached her, inspecting her carefully, moving all around, then grooming her a little.  He pulled her dead hand twoard him, whimpering; in life she had responded, grooming him in return.  Then he moved a few yards away to sit, hunched and motionless, eyes staring.  As darkness fell, Flint climbed into a tree and made a small nest – to spend the first night of his life alone.

On the second day Flint heard his brother calling in a nearby group, and he joined them.  Some of his depression lifted for a while, but after a few hours he suddenly left the other chimps and hurried back to the place where Flo had died.  There he sat alone, eyes staring into space.  Later he climbed slowly into a tall tree, walked along a branch, and stood staring at a large empty nest – the one that Flo had made and that he and she had slept in the previous week.  What was he thinking?  He climbed down and lay on the ground, staring at nothing.

Over the next three weeks, Flint became increasingly lethargic.  He stopped eating, and he avoided other chimps, huddling in the vegetation close to where he’d last seen Flo.  His eyes sank deep into the hollow sockets of his skull; his movements were like an old man’s.  The last short journey he made, with many pauses, was to the very place where Flo’s body had lain.

There he remained, sometimes staring and staring into the water, until he died, just three and a half weeks after losing Flo.  He died of grief.

This is my Favorite Animal Book Yet!

Out of all the animal books i have reviewed, The Smile of a Dolphin is by far my favorite book so far.  The main reason this is such an amazing book is the fact that it is a large book, which means large photos can be included.  Another nice feature is that is a collection of short stories from such amazing contributors as Jane Goodall and Frans de Waal, along with many more.  Not only that, the stories are just so amazing and emotional, i really reccomend everyone should check this book out.

For further reading, please check out all of the animal books that i have reviewed.  Also please feel free to check out some of my animal pictures that i have taken!

My Life with the Chimpanzees Book Review

Jane Goodall’s Book on Working with the Chimpanzees and her Life.

Jane Goodall Book for Kids or anyone looking for a quick introduction to the life and work of one of the most famous person to ever study chimpanzees or any kind of animal!

Jane Goodall talks about her adventures in Gombe National Park in Africa where she spent many years studying the wild animals she grew to love called the Chimpanzees.  From a young age Jane Goodall knew that working around animals was something she had to do and thankfully her parents fully supported her in her life choice.

This book is written like an adventure novel with thrilling stories about living in the wild with her husband and photographer and their son nicknamed Grub.  Jane Goodall’s study of the Chimpanzees has redefined the way humans look at other animals.  In fact, because of Jane Goodall, humans had to re-think what it is to be labeled as an animal.  It used to be known that only humans had the abilities to make tools and use them, but one day Goodall witnessed a chimpanzee using a man-made tool, something chimpanzees are amazing at.  After this discovery there have been many other animals seen in the wild using tools, including the obvious Gorillas and Orangutans, but also including the not so obvious dolphins and birds (view the vultures using a tool).

Why parents should buy this book

I really believe that when you teach your children about animals at an early age they will be more likely to want to help save the animals as they are adults.  Jane Goodall does an amazing job telling people about the importance of saving the chimpanzees and other animals in danger and has devoted her life to it.

With this book, My Life with the Chimpanzees, Jane Goodall brings you on an adventure and totally captures your imagination.  She also explains individual chimpanzees that she has met in her journeys and lets the reader really understand how different Chimpanzees can be, just like humans.

Can Adults Read this Book?

I must say that this is a great book for adults to read.  Although the print is large and it is a rather short book at only 160 pages and the “reading level” at ages 9-12, i can recommend this book to adults because the other option is a 768 page biography called Jane Goodall which is much harder to read than this. Plus, you can find this at most Book stores for the low price of $6.99!

Here is a quote from an amazon reviewer.

The book was purchased for a project learning about Jane Goodall. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t look closely enough before buying the book to realize it was written for young readers. Even though it wasn’t appropriate for my college level project, I read through it anyway and found it to be an excellent book.

A preview of 10 great Great Ape books that you should check out, including Jane Goodall and Dian Fossey Books

I would now like to share a few books in the primate department that i will review later on.  These are books are personally own and you can see the original photo i took on my flickr account.

1. Gorillas in the Mist – If Jane Goodall = Chimpanzees, Dian Fossey = Gorillas. This amazing story of her time in the wild researching Gorillas that concluded with her death in the mist. Really great book for Gorilla lovers, alot of black and white photos, graphs, drawings and maps. Study of MOUNTAIN GORILLAS, you know, the huge and cuddly looking ones that can not be seen in any zoo in the US.

2. Primates and Philosophers A series of essays published by Princeton, this is a hard read but super informative. Gain insight on why primates help others in need, stories of a spitting chimp, passive food sharing and more! A very good book.

3. The Ten Trusts – I think this is Jane’s best book. This is a book that if everyone read, the world would be perfect. I see this as equal to John Lennon’s Imagine. This book has changed my life more than any other book.
First 5 trusts:
1. Rejoice that we are part of the animal kingdom.
2. Respect all life.
3. Open our minds, in humility, to animals and learn from them.
4. Teach our children to Respect and love nature.
5. Be wise stewards of life on earth.

4. My Life with the Chimpanzees Biography of Jane Goodall, its great for kids and as an introduction to Jane. Remeber what its like to read childrens books? Pick this up and you will remember the lovely large font!

5. In the Shadow of Man Reprinted from 1971, Jane Goodal’s Masterpiece. Amazing stories, amazing photos and amazing primates (goodall and the chimps.) 64 pages of black and white photos.

6. Reason for Hope Once you understand the inner beauty of Jane, buy this book. A memoir of her life, its very touching. Lots of photos and stories of her growing up, that is my favorite part. See why she is the most important woman in science.

7. Jane Goodall Biography The mother of all Goodall books.. its quite thick. That is why i suggest first reading the childrens book 700 pages, 16 pages of black and white photos of mainly Jane – funny, there are almost as many baboon photos as chimp photos. Great for Goodall Fanatics

8. Chimpanzee Politics My newest book just purchased today. Will soon be a favorite. De Waal’s observation of Chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo (Burgers’ Zoo in Germany).

9. The Chimpanzees of Gombe – Patterns of Behavior This is by far my favorite book i own. Autographed by Goodall, 1st edition! 650 pages with a graph, map or photo on almost every page. Written like a textbook. Unmatched Chimpanzee knowledge learned. For Real.

10. The Great Apes – Between Two Worlds National Geographic book of the Great Apes. What does this mean? Guaranteed Super Photos! Full color book with amazing photos and stories of Chimpanzee, Gorilla, Orangutan and other lovers.