Ladies: Champions of the Primates

Having just read Endangered by Eliot Schrefer, it seemed fortuitous that I would wander into a local bookstore to find this little gem facing out at me from a shelf in the children's department. Primates: The Fearless Science of Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas is a graphic, slightly fictionalized history of the three women who started with Louis Leakey and transformed the world's knowledge of the great apes.

Jane Goodall is probably the most well known of these three women, and she was the first woman Leakey was successful in sending to study the great apes. When his former secretary wasn't successful with the chimpanzees (or terribly interested), Goodall, a woman with no formal degree or experience in conducting such a study, was sent. It was there that she conducted some of the most groundbreaking research ever done on the chimpanzees.

Dian Fossey didn't wait for Leakey to discover her, she hunted him down and demanded to be sent to study the mountain gorillas. Leakey, still convinced women are better at this kind of research, put her study together and sent her. It was there that the gorillas became the life and death of Dian Fossey. Her refusal to back down from dangerous people's protection of the poaching of the gorillas was her undoing, but even in death, she is a champion for these beautiful animals.

 Birute Galdikas is the least known of these three women. Having come to Leakey after Fossey and Goodall, she was most interested in the illusive orangutans. Lucky for these creatures, their ability to fade into the mist also made them difficult to hunt, which was a protection in and of itself. Galdikas herself was as illusive as her orangutans, but the research she gathered is still unmatched.

This was a lovely little graphic non-fiction mini-biography of how these ladies came to study the great apes and forever shape the way the world viewed them and connected them to the human species. While the book is short and the stories are brief, it is a great starting point if you have a student interested in the study of the great apes. This would be a great paring with Endangered or "Gorillas in the Mist". After they have a taste of these three amazing (and very different) women, it would be fabulous to send them off for further research. I really enjoyed this little book, and I am so glad I happened to stumble upon it! 

The One and Only Ivan

Did you ever start a book, not knowing what you were going to think of it, and end up staying awake all night trying to finish it because you just can't imagine putting it down? That was my experience with The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate. I know I had to work the next day, but I simply couldn't stop reading.


Ivan is a gorilla. He is the only gorilla at a small zoo located at the Big Top Mall. Even though he doesn't have any gorilla friends, Ivan still has Stella, the old elephant, and Bob, the stray dog, who make him as happy as two friends ever could. He even has the zoo's cleaner George and his daughter Julia to visit him and keep him company. No one is really happy at the Big Top Mall, but they live their lives the best they can under the circumstances. 


When a new baby elephant named Ruby is brought to the zoo, everything changes. Ruby and her sadness make the rest of the residents of the Big Top Mall realize just how sad they really are as well. Everyone becomes protective of Ruby, even when her constant questions drive them crazy. Stella protects Ruby as though Ruby were her own daughter, but when Stella gets sick, she makes Ivan promise he will get Ruby out of the little, miserable zoo and to some place where Ruby can be happy. Ivan is a gentle giant, but he takes his oath seriously, especially when he sees the zoo's owner, Mack, take out the claw stick on Ruby when she refuses to learn Stella's tricks. Ivan needs to save Ruby, but how can a gorilla who hasn't left his small cage in years get her out of the zoo? 


As I first started reading this book and they described the animals in their cages, I almost put it down. I really can't take anything that involves animals hurt or neglected, so it took a lot of will power to keep going (even though the descriptions aren't terribly graphic, they still made me very sad). I am glad I kept going. The story of Ivan and his friends, both human and creature, was so beautiful, it was heartbreaking. I kept reading because Ivan just had to save Ruby. I needed him to save Ruby. She was so innocent and naive, and seeing her in that zoo broke my heart. Ivan was such an interesting character with his gentle nature and his artistic talents (he likes to draw bananas the most, but draws other things too!). When he uses those artistic talents to save Ruby, you will literally find yourself beaming from ear to ear!


This is a beautiful middle reader story told in simple language from Ivan's point of view. He explains gorillas are creatures of few words, so the story is told in short, simple bursts of paragraphs. Since they are so small, it becomes a great book for a beginning reader who can stop and start with great frequency if they need to (if they can bring themselves to). I might give this story to an older, struggling reader because it is such a touching, beautiful story, but I would make sure it wasn't a student who would be insulted by slightly juvenile writing. The story would keep them interested, but the writing is young. If you need a story to read aloud in class or at home with your child, give Ivan and the crew a chance. You won't be sorry you did!