Jane Goodall

September 1, 2008
Gr 6-9-This comprehensive account of Goodall's life and work among the chimpanzees of the Gombe Preserve in Africa will find interest with students who are interested in subjects such as primatology, environmental preservation, animal behavior, and women's studies. Goodall's career path, professional interactions, and research methods are detailed, and her personal life, loves, affairs, and family relationships are described. The validity of her questionable scientific approach and her academic standing are touched upon. Murky photographs of Goodall in Africa illustrate the dry and passionless text."Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2008
This profile of the renowned primatologist highlights her independent spirit and deep love of animals as well as the significant roles Goodalls long-lived mother, Vanne, and the scientist Louis B. Leakey--whom she called Fairy Foster Father--played in shaping her character and career. Beginning with incidents in Goodalls childhood that presaged her adult interests andresearch methods, Bardhan-Quallen chronicles theups and downs of Goodalls personal life, her astounding discoveries about chimpanzee behavior, and her rise to international celebrity status. Detailed personnel rosters and tallies of exact amounts of various grants slow the pace, and the prose sometimes takes on a purplish tinge (It was too early in the relationship, however, for Jane to see clearly beyond the haze of a newfound love), yet readerswill be inspired by this account of a woman who launched hercareer before she acquired the supposedly requisite academic credentials and has done much to change our understanding of ourselves and the natural world. Lightly illustrated with photos and capped by a multimedia resource list. A solid entry in the Up Close series(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2009
As a child, Goodall dreamed of traveling to "wild untouched Africa." This book effectively incorporates excerpts from her writings, revealing her passion for research. The text also provides glimpses of Goodall the woman: extroverted, flirtatious, and adoring. Bardhan-Quallen never glamorizes her subject's life, emphasizing instead her hand-to-mouth existence and unflagging efforts today. Black-and-white photographs are included. Bib., ind.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2008
The aptly titled Up Close series delivers yet another solid biography. This time around, readers meet Jane Goodall, the British primatologist who, as a child, dreamed of traveling to "wild, untouched Africa" to study the animals there. With paleontologist Louis Leakey's support, twenty-six-year-old Goodall arrived at Tanzania's Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in 1960 and began her life's work. Bardhan-Quallen incorporates excerpts from Goodall's writings to good effect, revealing Goodall's passion for her research -- and her growing attachment to Flo, Fifi, David Graybeard, and the other chimps. Bardhan-Quallen doesn't shy away from including criticism of Goodall's work (scientists disagreed with her methodology, including her practice of naming individual chimpanzees rather than numbering them), but she does tend to side with her. Throughout the book, the author also gives readers a glimpse of Jane Goodall the woman. She was extroverted and flirtatious; she adored her supportive mother; she tried (and failed) to balance her professional work with her romantic relationships. Bardhan-Quallen never glamorizes Goodall's life, emphasizing instead her hand-to-mouth existence (she struggled for decades to pull in grant money) and her unflagging efforts today -- "ten months of every year circling the globe, bringing a message of community, conservation, and hope to anyone who will listen." An (unseen) index, a bibliography, source notes, and black-and-white photographs are included.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)