"I wouldn't trade my childhood for any other," Snell writes. "Conceived in the Amazon rainforest, I learned to walk and talk among the Machiguenga Indians who, to this day, call me "Rani".

"The 'Machis' were my first babysitters and friends. From them I learned to tie a house together, eat monkeys and macaws, and make dugout canoes. They laughed at my log rides down rampaging rivers and caught exotic pets for me. Life was one great adventure after another. After all, what could be more fun than perching in thorn trees at night to escape a herd of stampeding pigs?

"The Machiguengas adopted me and my family into theirs. As they touched our lives we discovered what it would cost us to touch theirs.

"I hope this first book of the Rani Adventures will bring you laugher, tears and a new perspective on the old cliche: 'It's a jungle out there!' "

The second edition (5 1/2 inches by 8 1/2 inches) is larger than the first edition (4 1/4 inches by 7 inches.