Thursday, August 1, 2013

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas by Jim Ottaviani and Maris Wicks - Book Review

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.

The artwork was poignant and silly in the right places for me, and open and fun enough to draw in my kids. 

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. 

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