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    My Life with the Chimpanzees

    4.2 23

    by Jane Goodall

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    • ISBN-13: 9780671562717
    • Publisher: Aladdin
    • Publication date: 04/28/1996
    • Edition description: Repackage
    • Pages: 160
    • Product dimensions: 5.12(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.50(d)
    • Lexile: 910L (what's this?)
    • Age Range: 8 - 12 Years

    JANE GOODALL was born in London on April 3, 1934 and grew up in Bournemouth, on the southern coast of England. In 1960 she began studying chimpanzees in the wild in Gombe, Tanganyika (now Tarzania). After receiving her doctorate in ethology at Cambridge University, Dr. Goodall founded the Gombe Stream Research Center for the study of chimpanzees and baboons. In 1975 she established the Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education, and Conservation to promote animal research throughout the world.

    Dr. Goodall is well known for her contributions to several stunning National Geographic films and has written six books for adults, including the bestseller In the Shadow of Man.

    She has been named Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II and has received many awards, including the prestigious Kyoto Prize in Basic Science and the National Geographic Society's Hubbard Award, for distinction in research, exploration, and discovery.

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    From Chapter 1

    It was very stuffy and hot where I crouched, and the straw tickled my legs. There was hardly any light, either. But I could see the bird on her nest of straw. She was about five feet away from me, on the far side of the chicken house, and she had no idea I was there. If I moved I would spoil everything. So I stayed quite still. So did the chicken.

    Presently, very slowly, she raised herself from the straw. She was facing away from me and bending forward. I saw a round white object gradually protruding from the feathers between her legs. It got bigger. Suddenly she gave a little wiggle and — plop! — it landed on the straw. I had actually watched the laying of an egg.

    With loud, pleased clucks, the chicken shook her feathers, moved the egg with her beak, then proudly strutted her way out of the henhouse.

    I tumbled out, stiff but excited, and ran all the way to the house. My mother was just about to call the police. She had been searching for me for hours. She had no idea that I had been crouched all that time in the henhouse.

    This was my first serious observation of animal behavior. I was five years old. How lucky it was that I had an understanding mother! Instead of being angry because I had given her a scare, she wanted to know all about the wonderful thing I had just seen.

    Even though I was so young at the time, I can still remember a lot about that experience. I remember being puzzled about eggs. Where on a chicken was there an opening big enough for an egg to come out? I don't know if I asked anyone. If I did, no one told me. I decided to find out for myself. I remember thinking as I watched a hen going into one of the henhouses, "Ah, now I'll follow her and see what happens." And I remember how she rushed out, squawking in alarm, when I squeezed in after her. Obviously that was no good. I would have to get in first and wait until a hen decided to come in and lay her egg. That is why I was so long inside the henhouse. You have to be patient if you want to learn about animals.

    When I grew up I became an ethologist — a long word that simply means a scientist who studies animal behavior. Most people, when they think of an animal, think of a creature with hair, such as a dog or cat, a rabbit or a mouse, a horse or a cow. In fact, the word animal includes all living creatures except for plants. Jellyfish and insects, frogs and lizards, fish and birds are all animals just as cats and dogs are. But cats and dogs and horses are mammals, a special kind of animal. Humans are mammals, too.

    You probably know all that. Children today know a lot more about these sorts of things than most adults did when I was your age. I remember having a huge argument with one of my aunts when I tried to make her believe that a whale was a mammal, not a fish. She wouldn't believe me and I cried. I was so frustrated.

    Copyright © 1988, 1996 by Byron Preiss Visual Publications, Inc.

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    From the time she was a girl, Jane Goodall dreamed of a life spent working with animals. Finally she had her wish. When she was twenty-six years old, she ventured into the forests of Africa to observe chimpanzees in the wild. On her expeditions she braved the dangers with leopards and lions in the African bush. And she got to know an amazing group of wild chimpanzees — intelligent animals whose lives, in work and play and family relationships, bear a surprising resemblance to our own.

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    Children's Literature - Greg M. Romaneck
    Over the course of several decades Jane Goodall has dedicated herself to the study of animal behavior with a particular focus on the lives of chimpanzees. Because of the fascinating discoveries that have flowed from this work, Dr. Goodall remains one of the most illustrious scientific researchers in the field of primate studies. Beyond her seminal research, Dr. Goodall has shown the world that the lives of chimpanzees, and many other animals, are complicated and full of value. For Dr. Goodall all life is valuable and worthy of being treated with dignity, kindness, and consideration. These values ring true both in her work and in her writing. My Life with the Chimpanzees traces her experiences from childhood to the present and how they have shaped her life's work. This book was originally published over twenty years ago and its reissuance serves as a testimonial to the powerful global impact that her work has had upon the study of animal behavior. In this autobiographical work Dr. Goodall shows how her love for working with animals led to a lifelong study of specific species, their communication patterns, and the social structure of their lives. At a time when global environmental issues threaten the well-being of so many species, Dr. Goodall's words serve as a powerful reminder of how important it is to treat all life with dignity. Further, by reaching out to and inspiring young people through her words, deeds, and beliefs, Dr. Goodall's message remains as urgent as it has ever been. This is an inspirational book and one that youngsters will greatly benefit from. Reviewer: Greg M. Romaneck
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