Primates - a review

I borrowed this one from a colleague - hated to give it back.


Ottaviani, Jim. 2013. Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas. New York: First Second. (Illustrated by Maris Wicks)
(Advance Reader Copy)

The stories of pioneering primate researchers Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas are woven together in this nonfiction graphic novel by award-winning Jim Ottaviani.  Most know Jane Goodall because of her  long and storied career with chimpanzees. Many know Dian Fossey and her work with gorillas and from the film, Gorillas in the Mist (Universal Pictures, 1988). Lesser known is Biruté Galdikas, a pioneer in the study of orangutans.

Besides the obvious primate connection, another connection unites these three women and the threads of Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey and Biruté Galdikas.  Goodall, Fossey and Galdikas were all hired by famed archaeologist, Louis Leakey.  Amazingly, when hired, none were experienced researchers.  Goodall had no college experience; Fossey's profession was occupational therapist. Only Galdikas was a college student with an intent to study primates. Leakey believed that women were more insightful and better suited to understand primate behavior.  The book hints that he may also have been attracted to the three women, noting his wife's skepticism.

The chronology works well in Primates, which is less biographical and more an intense look at a fascinating period of scientific research in the field of primate studies. Hired by Leakey over a period of several years, Goodall left for Tanzania to study chimpanzees in 1960, Dian Fossey to Congo (later Rwanda) in 1967, to study gorillas, and Galdikas to research orangutans in Borneo in 1971. Ottiavani tells the three stories chronologically in first person commentary, with each story spilling over into the next.  Wicks employs different color dialogue boxes to differentiate the researchers when their lives intersect in London at various points in time. During the course of their careers, the women met, knew, and understood each other.

Equal time is given to the behavior and locale of the primates, and the monumental discoveries and personal sacrifices of each woman.  Goodall discovered that chimpanzees use tools. Little was know about orangutans before Galdikas' research. Fossey made many behavioral discoveries about gorillas and worked tirelessly against poaching.  All three changed long-standing methods of animal observation. In the case of Fossey, Primates alludes to her tragic and untimely death, but does not mention her murder, instead showing an image of the the side-by-side headstones of Fossey and her favorite silverback gorilla, Digit. Wicks' illustrations are simple, but invoke the intense colorful beauty of the primates' habitats, the uniqueness of each primate species, the vastness of the forests and jungles and the incredible difficulties of three humans living within their midst.

An author's note explains where narrative license was used within the story.

Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Biruté Galdikas will surely evoke an urge to learn more about these three fascinating women and the primates to whom they devoted their lives. An engaging and thought-provoking book for ages 12 and up.

• See a sneak preview of Primates on the publisher's website.

• Check out this post from First Second's blog for a great view of the spine, flaps, and endpapers.  So much more goes into the making of a quality book that one might think.  I completely missed the binoculars looking through the book when I read it! First Second (00:01) is top-notch.

Due on shelves in June, 2013.

Learn more at
Jane Goodall Institute
Orangutan Foundation International
There are also many nonprofits dedicated to the protection and conservation of gorillas.

It's Nonfiction Monday.  Check out the always interesting Perogies & Gyoza,
for links to all of today's nonfiction book reviews and postings.

Remember Dippy - a review

Just recently, I was thinking that despite its prevalence in the US, it's been quite some time since I've seen a children's novel that featured a character with autism (I am not counting Wild Boy, since his autism is speculative and not the focus of that most wonderful book).  Not since The London Eye Mystery have I encountered a great character with autism, so I was pleased to receive an Advance Reader Copy of Remember Dippy from author Shirley Reva Vernick.

Vernick, Shirley Reva. 2013. Remember Dippy. El Paso: Cinco Puntos.


It is difficult to believe how much Shirley Reva Vernick has packed into a slim, 156-page novel.  Ostensibly a story about how Johnny, a teenaged boy, adapts when he is forced to watch his autistic cousin, Remember (Mem, for short), during much of his summer vacation, Vernick has also added budding romances, a local mystery, a neighborhood bully, a "new girl," and several small-scale disastrous events.  The many subplots tie nicely together to create a fast-paced book with humor, drama, and a keen understanding of the challenges and benefits of autism. If you don't believe there are benefits to autism, I direct you immediately to Sy Montgomery's Temple Grandin.

While Aunt Collette toils at 7-11, Johnny soon learns that unkept promises or changes to Mem's routine are likely to spark a tantrum, but he also learns, with some amount of envy, that Remember is supremely happy in his life. He speaks without a social filter, saying whatever he thinks; he has a gift for excellence at video games; and generally, he truly enjoys his life and the people and animals within it.

Unlike Siobhan Dowd's The London Eye Mystery (Random 2008), which is narrated by its autistic protagonist, Remember Dippy's narrator is Johnny. Mem, however, plays a major part in Remember Dippy and has a well-developed character that eventually assists Johnny in developing one of his own,

The guys and I ate ourselves silly on shortcake - well, Mem only ate the whipped cream part, the same way he eats Twinkies. In between mouthfuls, he sang along with the band at the top of his lungs, even though he didn't know the lyrics, even though he couldn't carry a tune.  ... 

At first, I pretended I didn't know him, but that was pretty impossible since he was either right next to me or calling me every other minute.  So I decided to ignore the people who were looking at us funny and just have fun tossing around the Frisbee Mo had brought. It's a free country, after all - Mem could sing if he wanted.  And he did want. Finally, when it got too buggy for comfort, we called it a night. 

The cover is rather unfortunate, though it's difficult to say what image might have made a better choice.  Don't choose a book by its cover. Short, sweet, fast-moving, and informative, give Remember Dippy a try for its positive look at autism.

Look for Remember Dippy in June, 2013.

Note:
Fortunately for Vernick, though not so for union members, Hostess Twinkies, a focal point of the story, are on their way back to grocery shelves soon. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/twinkies-return-hostess-unions/story?id=19043854#.UZTZWLW1FDA

Pluto's Secret - a review

Weitekamp, Margaret and DeVorkin, David. 2013. Pluto's Secret. New York: Abrams.


Written by experts from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and humorously illustrated in watercolors, colored pencils and pen and ink by Diane Kidd, Pluto's Secret gives Pluto a chance to speak for itself about its discovery, its addition as the 9th planet in the solar system, and its eventual reclassification as an icy world in the Kuiper belt.

The astronomers soon learned that Pluto did not always stay in its place.  Sometimes it even switched places with Neptune, coming closer to the sun that Neptune did.

"Hey!" yelled the astronomers.  "Planets cannot do that!"

"Well, I can and I do!" Pluto giggled.

Remember, the icy world Pluto had a secret - a clue about what exists at the outer edges of the solar system and across the universe.

"You still have not figured me out!" sang Pluto.  "Keep trying!"

Balancing information and entertainment, kids will enjoy learning that Pluto was named by 11-year-old, Venetia Burney of England, and that its orbit is tilted, tipped "up like a slide in the playground." The text is similar to Comic Sans Serif and is presented on white background punctuated with occasional illustrated or colored text, and surrounded by anthropomorphic illustrations of the celestial bodies.

As one would expect from the Smithsonian, the book contains photographs of Pluto's discovery, discoverers and young Venetia Burns, a Who's Who of planets, Glossary, Notes, Suggested Reading, Bibliography and Index.

A final note that shouldn't need to be mentioned, but I will mention it anyway:
Pluto was deemed to be something other than a planet in 2006.  Whether you are a teacher, a librarian, a mother, or anyone who is connected with the education of young people, if you still have books that declare Pluto to be a planet, you need to throw those books away - now.

 Today's collection of Nonfiction Monday posts may be found at Instantly Interruptible.