Friday, April 22, 2011

Book Review- Me...Jane


Written & Illustrated By Patrick McDonnell
Published by Little Brown Kids
Released on April 5th, 2011
Source- book for review from publisher
5 stars

In his characteristic heartwarming style, Patrick McDonnell tells the story of the young Jane Goodall and her special childhood toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. As the young Jane observes the natural world around her with wonder, she dreams of "a life living with and helping all animals," until one day she finds that her dream has come true.

One of the world's most inspiring women, Dr. Jane Goodall is a renowned humanitarian, conservationist, animal activist, environmentalist, and United Nations Messenger of Peace. In 1977 she founded the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI), a global nonprofit organization that empowers people to make a difference for all living things.

With anecdotes taken directly from Jane Goodall's autobiography, McDonnell makes this very true story accessible for the very young—and young at heart (quoted from Goodreads).


With it's beautiful illustrations and simple text, the story of Me...Jane is simply a wonderful telling of Jane Goodall's young life. With it's adorable cover, this is one children's book I want to display proudly in my library.

I grew up a fan of Jane Goodall and being able to share this story with my kids and reading a little bit about Jane's life is fascinating. It's not just the story I love, but the illustrations and soft pastel colors really bring this story to life.

With Jane's inspirational message to "Follow Your Dreams", this is a book that I'd recommend to have in your personal home library and in the classroom. This is a great book to introduce younger students to Jane Goodall. I would be really surprised if Me... Jane doesn't win some sort of award. It's truly a beautiful book and a wonderful story.

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To celebrate Earth Day, be sure to visit Patrick's site here to listen to his interview with Little Brown, down load activities and enter the Me..Jane sweepstakes.

Don't miss learning more about Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots programs here.
I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~