Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey,
and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks - Book Review
Primated by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks tells the story of
Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas. Considering that each could
only get a third of the book, I think their stories were well summarized.
I got this book mainly for myself, since I am a big fan of
Fossey and Goodall. Birute Galdikas was new to me, and I was very interested to
learn a little about her. My girls enjoyed to book as well, although I'm sure
they are a little too young to appreciate how revolutionary these scientists
were for their time.
My kids are big graphic novel fans, but I have never loved
the format myself. That, in combination with the fact that I have already read
a great deal about these women, at least two of them anyway, left me slightly
disappointed at the lack of depth. But stepping back, I see that there is no
way a book like this could include every wonderful and interesting thing about
these researchers and their discoveries. This book does present an interesting
introduction.
I think this would be a great book for a child, or teen who
is interested in this sort of research, or any of these scientists, but does
not yet know much about them. I enjoyed the last section about Birute Galdikas
the best; I suspect because I didn't already know anything about her, so could
enjoy the story fresh. There is also a nice list of resources at the end if a
child would like to learn more.
