Jane Goodall

First Biographies

by Lola M. Schaefer

Text and photographs introduce the biography of Jane Goodall, a scientist who has studied animals including chimpanzees in Africa.

Genres: Biography

24 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Lola M. Schaefer is an educator, writer, and gardener, and the author of many acclaimed books for children about math, art, science, technology, animals, and nature. She uses shovels, hoes, rakes, and scissors when she works in her garden. Lola M. Shaefer grew up in Indiana, and now lives in northern Georgia.

Reviews

[Danielle Vetter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Level- 2.6
Guided Reading Level- 2.2

This book shares information about Jane Goodall. Topics covered in this book are Jane Goodall's life as a child, her life in Africa, how she helps animals and people, and what she is doing today.

This book is a biography. The entire book shares information about Jane Goodall and her life events.

Writing Trait:
Ideas- This book is focused on a single theme: Jane Goodall's life. The book shares information about many aspects of Jane's life through text, pictures, and a timeline. The book keeps the theme in mind and never strays from sharing information about Jane.

Classroom Integration/Mentor Text:
This book can be used as a mentor text in a reading unit on biographies. Students in second or third grade can use this book to learn how a biography focuses on a person's life events. Students should study the text features that help readers learn more about Jane, such as the timeline, glossary, pictures, and the use of specific dates. Students can then create their own biographies about a person of interest, making sure to include some of the helpful aspects that this text did in order to aid comprehension.

[Alyssa DeFini · Rating 4 out of 5]

This informative picture books tells the life story of Jane Goodall, the milestones in her life, and describes her life living in Africa. Jane Goodall is an inspirational women who loved animals and enjoyed studying wildlife. This text explores how she made an impact and how she continues to speak to others around the world about her amazing work.

This book will be perfect to use when introducing biographies. It contains text features (glossary, table of contents, index, and headings). In addition, on the bottom of each page is a time line. As the book continues, the time line grows and additional events from Jane Goodall's life are included. This would be a perfect text to use when introducing timelines to examine events that are part of someones life. Students will also be able to observe the real images of Jane Goodall throughout the story.

Other biographies within this set:
1. Abraham Lincoln by, Barbara Knox
2. Rosa Parks, by Lola M. Schaefer

Quote from the book:
"Jane liked to learn about animals. She read books and visited zoos. Jane wrote her thoughts in a journal" (p.7).

[Mrs. Ruigrok · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and easy to read biography about Jane Goodall. This would be a good book for an elementary school library or classroom. A simple way to learn the basics about Jane Goodall.

[Ashley Dement · Rating 3 out of 5]

This biography of Jane Goodall was a very simple rendition of her life. The text was in large black letters written on a white page. Each page had a purple border at the bottom to fill in the space that they text and/ or pictures did not fill. Inside and out, the main color used in this book was purple, which got very repetitive. The book was very small in size and it was also extremely short. I thought that it was interesting that such a short picture book would include a glossary at the end put for younger students I think that these definitions would be useful in increasing their vocabulary.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written for the younger elementary audience, this book is a simple biography on Jane Goodall. While it provides all the pertinent information, it is down right boring. After reading this book, children will not understand at all how Jane Goodall did her research. I liked how the authors used actual photographs to illustrate the book, but why would kids want to read this book? Unfortunately teachers looking for an excellent biography on Jane Goodall for younger readers will find options very sparse. Bette Birnbaum's book "Jane Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees" is much more interesting however it lacks the biographical data that this book has.