Who Is Jane Goodall? (Who Was?)

This series in general is really good for early biographies. The books work really well if your child has a biography report or project to complete. My daughter really loved learning about Jane Goodall in this book.

I donated these wonderful readers to the kids section of our local library. I am excited to know that children will learn about these historical people.

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Fourth graders at our elementary school do a biography book report every year and the “Who Is/Was” series is the go to books for these kids. They are a quick and easy read for a fourth grader and tells lots of details about not just the persons life but also other details, that just kind of add to their story. My daughter really enjoyed this book in particular, and was able to write a really interesting book report on Jane Goodall.

Overall this was a good book but because it is specifically for children, some details in Chapter 7 could have been omitted. For example, instead of giving the specifics of what Gilka did, it may have been wiser to say she did some very violent things that shocked Jane and gave science new insights. Then a parent could decide to look it up and present it in the way best suited for their child and age. If anything, there should be a warning about a graphic disturbing story (or two… another about Flo’s death and her son’s reaction may be upsetting to some children) in it. It was just an odd chapter to end the book with and the story of Jane’s amazing life with all the wonderful discoveries regarding chimps (it is called The Dark Years) and left my son pretty sad after he was so interested and engaged throughout. If anyone gets this book, just be cautious with your child and Chapter 7. Read it first and decide what you want to share.

I didn't have high expectations - the "Who Was..." series is huge, and sometimes the quality is mediocre when a publisher decides to crank out that many titles in a series. It was great, though! I have an unenthusiastic reader who had to be dragged inside to read a biography of 100+ pages and present the book report to his 4th grade class. With the exception of the time he glommed onto my collection of Hugleikr Dagsson books, this is the first time he's been excited to turn the page and find out what happened next. He laughed. He asked lots of questions. He read a whole book without grumbling. The highlight of his week was sharing with his class that this badass scientist once got the snot beaten out of her by a chimp, got thrown off a cliff, got up, dusted herself off, and got back to work. Also, her dad fought Nazis. My boy's a fan. After finishing, he was so interested in Dr. Goodall's life that I even got him to read a good portion of her autobiography, My Life with the Chimpanzees. I almost feel like I could start saving money for college instead of bail for this kid.

I love all these books and buy them for my kiddos. They are big print , have pictures and best of all east to read. We learn so much every time. Great for book reports for the younger grades. I buy them if we are traveling and read them so the kids have a good historical foundation!

My daughter is going to be Jane Goodall for the 3rd Grade Wax Museum, and we bought this book to help her along. This book is perfect in difficulty level for her and contains lots of useful information and pictures. My daughter was excited to read this book and said that it was easy for her to read and understand.