Learning to Be Wild (A Young Reader's Adaptation): How Animals Achieve Peace, Create Beauty, and Raise Families

by Carl Safina

From New York Times -bestselling author Carl Safina comes Learning to Be Wild , a young readers adaptation of the notable book Becoming Wild that explores community, culture, and belonging through the lives of chimpanzees, macaws, and sperm whales.

What do chimpanzees, macaws, and whales all have in common?

Some believe that culture is strictly a human phenomenon. But that's not true! Culture is passed down from parent to child in all sorts of animal communities. It is the common ground that three very different animals - chimpanzees, macaws, and whales - share.

Discover through the lives of chimpanzees in Uganda, scarlet macaws in Peru, and sperm whales in the Caribbean how they - and we - are all connected, in this wonderous journey around the globe.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals

224 pages, Hardcover

Published August 22, 2023

About the author

Carl Safina’s work has been recognized with MacArthur, Pew, and Guggenheim Fellowships, and his writing has won Orion, Lannan, and National Academies literary awards and the John Burroughs, James Beard, and George Rabb medals. He has a PhD in ecology from Rutgers University. Safina is the inaugural holder of the endowed chair for nature and humanity at Stony Brook University, where he co-chairs the steering committee of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science and is founding president of the not-for-profit organization, The Safina Center. He hosted the 10-part PBS series Saving the Ocean with Carl Safina. His writing appears in The New York Times, Audubon, Orion, and other periodicals and on the Web at National Geographic News and Views, Huffington Post, and CNN.com.

He lives on Long Island, New York with his wife Patricia, the two best beach-running dogs in the world, some chickens, a couple of parrots, and Frankie the kingsnake.

Reviews

[Shilo Quetchenbach · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this out loud to my animal-and-science-obsessed 9-year-old at bedtime. It took us a few weeks of reading nightly, but he consistently asked for it every night and listened intently.

The text is far too difficult for someone his age to read to himself, but he didn't seem to find it difficult to understand when read aloud. When he didn't understand a word or phrase, which was infrequent, he would interrupt to ask what it meant.

We both found it completely fascinating. It lays out a clear case for viewing animals as having culture like humans d0. It is divided into three sections: Chimpanzees in Uganda, Scarlet Macaws in Peru, and Sperm Whales in the Caribbean. The author takes the reader on a journey into the field in each location and emphasizes a different aspect of culture in each animal species; the overall story is compelling and draws you in.

The author rambles a bit, and jumps around between detailed descriptions of his observations of the animals and interactions with the scientists who are his guides, musings on culture in general and how the animals are different and similar to humans, information on how humans have historically failed to recognize other animals as having culture and rich individual and social lives, and how we must learn to do so or risk losing their culture. This increases the reading and comprehension level of the text but does paint a rich and detailed picture of the animals and their lives.

This could be a turn-off for a younger kid or a kid who has difficulty paying attention to long passages of text. However, for science minded animal-lover kids like mine, this book is a treasure-trove of information.

Before we even finished reading we purchased a copy of the author's previous book on elephants and will be starting it at bedtime very soon. Kiddo (who is admittedly very science-minded) was absolutely enthralled for the entire book and has talked about it constantly while we've been reading it.

*Thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Children's, and Roaring Book Press for providing an early copy for review.

[Anita Ojeda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I request a book without really reading about it. Based on the title, I thought I would review a book for middle-grade students—a Last-Child-in-the-Woods-sort-of-guide. Instead, I discovered a fascinating book about cultural development by non-human societies.

Who knew chimpanzees, scarlet macaws, and sperm whales have recognizable cultures they pass down from generation to generation? Although I knew orca whales spoke different dialects and lived in family groups led by a matriarch, I never considered what this knowledge had to do with me.

Safina makes a strong case for more research and consideration of non-human societies and their right to live on this earth. His research into animal cultures helps readers understand the need for conservation and stewarding the resources of the world before more species go extinct.

If we don’t learn to steward, study, and consider the cultures of animals, how can we possibly get along with each other? Reading this book reminds me of the wisdom of my Native American students and the respect they show for animals. What a pity white colonizers couldn’t (didn’t want to?) see the native’s civilized treatment of animals for what it was—respect for different cultures.

What I Loved About This Book

Although I loved this book, I have difficulty imagining one of my middle-grade or high-school students sitting down to read it. I highly recommend teachers and librarians read this book. High school science teachers may want to add it to their reading list and base a unit of study on the concept of discovering culture in non-human societies by observing them in detail over an extended period.

The vocabulary and reading levels fall on the high end (8th grade +), making this book a perfect fit for a highly-motivated student with a passion for animals and wildlife.

[Emily Bush · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning to be Wild follows 3 species of animals in hopes of finding out how each of these species becomes wild. What are they born knowing, what are they taught, and how does all of that differ from region to region. It was a fascinating look at chimpanzees in Africa and how peace is sometimes hard to come by in their culture. Male dominated societies that are ruled by fear and aggression often make it hard for chimps to live in peace, within their own group and with surrounding groups. Scarlet macaws are known for their beautiful feathers and colors that decorate the Amazon rainforests. They also find beauty in one another, looking for mates and friends that are the most beautiful and have the prettiest, brightest feathers. Sperm whales are known for their family groups that give them a sense of community and belonging. This book was truly amazing. Very interesting and informative, I learned things I never knew and thought about each of these species differently after reading about them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Kim Cabrera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a book intended for a younger audience, but I thought it was written at more of a middle school or high school level. I think it won't appeal as much to very young readers because some of the text and concepts may be too difficult for them.

Do animals have cultures? How to they learn these things? Can these be passed on to the future generations of these animals? The author uses examples of three different species to illustrate the points. Whales, macaws and chimpanzees are all featured.

Scientists who study these species contributed their observations. There are photos, but I think a book for younger readers would benefit from more illustrations or photos. Young readers are not as easily attracted to large amounts of dense text, so it's best to break it up a bit and modify it for their reading/attention level. I recommend this for a high school level reader.

I do like the author's other books for older readers and I highly recommend them. This one is great too, but for an older audience.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the original adult title and liked it as a three-star read so this one worked as an adaptation but it read like several long interviews with scientists than anything else which was mildly interesting, but not engrossing.

Using three examples-- the chimpanzee, the macaw, and the sperm whale, Safina shows the difference between culture and natural instincts whether it be in communication, use of tools, or eating.

There were pictures scattered in of the scientists and the animals to add a level of visual interest but nothing else "popped" to pull in younger readers (I would have liked textboxes or tables to add visual interest and teachable elements) for this audience.

[Alexa Hamilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this dive into how animals learn about culture. Safina, as always, really draws you into the animal worlds. I think the structure worked well—learning the most about the chimpanzee and the least about whales even though I love whales the most. There just isn’t the same descriptive info and we already get a lot of the culture stuff.

I am very curious about the adult version of this book. The editing is pretty good here but you can see some spots where there is room for so much more and it just cuts off. Still, I don’t think I’ve read a book on this topic for this age group and it’s very easy to read with a ton of info.

[Michele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought my five year old grandson would enjoy this book and for the most part he did. He asked great questions on what we were reading about. However, he did tire of it quickly so I did exactly read the entire book to him. He heard parts of it while I read it to myself. It is fascinating how animals behave. They socialize, have cultural differences and similarities. I would rate this book for middle school and up. Yes, even secondary schools would benefit from this fascinating, gripping nonfiction book. Also, photography is the form of illustration used and they are beautiful.

[Christine Crawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had some interesting content. I especially liked the section about whales. I really learned a lot there. The writing style struck me as a little odd - maybe because it's adapted for younger readers from an adult title? I do also think that there isn't a lot about it that will grab kids' attention. I think adding some color photographs would have made a huge difference.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The information itself is super interesting, but I have no idea what kid I would give it to--I don't think it reads aloud all that well for a classroom, and it would have to be a pretty specific kid.

[PottWab Regional Library]

A

[Kasey Giard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of adapting a book like this to make it accessible to younger readers. The topic is really intriguing, and I think a lot of readers would find the book engaging.

I thought the writing was a bit dense for a younger audience. There were sections I needed to read more than once to be sure I understood them, so it’s definitely not an easy read. I don’t know how it compares to the adult version. The table of contents shows the same sections, just in a different order, but I’m not sure how much the writing itself was simplified from one version to the other.

The book focuses primarily on three different animal groups: chimpanzees, scarlet macaws, and sperm whales. In each section, the author gives lots of supporting examples of other animals’ behavior and tons of interesting facts scientists have observed about animal culture. I found those snippets and the examples from the main animal groups to be the most interesting parts of the book.

It’s funny that I never really thought about how animals learn things beyond their instinctive behaviors. It makes so much sense that they learn from one another and have their own communities and cultures. I loved getting to peek into what those cultures look like and how they impact animal life.

The book also highlights how decreasing populations due to the destruction of habitat and climate change impact animals, making it harder for them to survive. I hadn’t thought about some of the ways the author lists. Seeing how decreasing population impacts culture and impacts the animal’s ability to survive also helped show how important their cultures are to them. It’s cool to see and study, but it’s also a deeply important element of their lives.

All in all, I love the topic of this book. I wish the writing were a little simpler because it’s got a lot of really great information to share with young readers and animal lovers.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions my own.