African Critters

by Robert B. Haas, Wayne Pacelle (Foreword by)

With a dramatic first-person narrative and close-up photography that brings kids into the thick of the action, National Geographic photographer Robert B. Haas gives us a rare glimpse into the struggles for survival in the African wilderness. We accompany him in his jeep, camera primed and ready to react. With stories and photographs that portray actual events, we wait patiently to spot leopard cubs coming out of their cave to play; we are charged by protective adult elephants who surround a new-born; we move side-by-side with a clan of wild dogs as they hunt impalas.

All the stories in the book are intimate, engaging, and true. Haas shares his work with readers, teaching the key lessons that all wildlife photographers live by: patience, persistence, and an intense interest in animals. "When we are out there, we are working inside a world that is both fascinating and historic." This beautiful and inviting book draws readers into Haas’s passion for Africa, for conservation, and for finding harmony between the actions of humans and the survival of wild animals.

African Critters is a wonderful holiday gift for animal lovers of all ages, a valuable sourcebook for school reports, and an essential addition to any animal book collection.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Picture Books, Childrens, Geography, Africa

96 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Laura Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subbed this for Y2 natural science instead of Burgess. Boyd and I enjoyed it!

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has beautiful photographs and interesting first-hand accounts. This would be a 5 star read if the personal stories were a little meatier, with more details. I liked information boxes, however. They weren’t bogged down with too much info. They contained just the right amount of information to educate, but not be dry and boring.

[Jacob Huebner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is finominal, especially if you love animals. It is written with a first person view and talks about like every animal in Africa. The author wrote this book exceptionally mainly because I liked how it was in first person.

[Tiffany Speed · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book! My 4 year old devoured it!!

[Brenda Kahn]

Gorgeous photos and interesting anecdotes.

[Elizabeth Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

The pictures are fantastic. The commentary was easy to follow and full of information.

**There is reference to an old earth.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book because the pictures alone are amazing. Then, if you add in the first person narrative about some of the sights that Robert B. Haas has seen make this even better. The author does a great job of giving us information about each of the animals that he is talking about, but what I especially like is how he adds in the information about what he knew that actually happened while he was in Africa. For example, he knew that the buffalo were attacking the lion cubs, and even though we don't have pictures (think goodness), he still keeps us updated on what happened to the cubs.
The glossary, index and table of contents make information very easy to find. It also made it fun to read because my kids would look at the table of contents and pick out what animal they wanted to read about at that time. This chapters in this book do not have to be read in any particular order.
As stated earlier, the pictures are amazing. Haas does state that he altered some of the pictures, but it was not to change the animal at all, but more to show the emotions that he was feeling as he was taking the pictures and seeing what he was seeing. The pictures really put the reader in Africa looking at the actual animals. Most people will not get to see these animals in person in the wild, but this book help you see the sights anyways.
I would recommend this book to anyone Kindergarten through 4th grade. I feel that any student who is interested in this topic would find it interesting. This book follows many standards, but it will especially help students know and use various text features to locate key facts or information in a text and identify the main purpose of a text, including what the author wants to answer, explain, or describe.
Again, I recommend this book for all of the information, but even more for the amazing pictures.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter in several sittings, and my older children kept sneaking in to listen. Author and photographer Robert B. Haas explains the circumstances under which he found each of his animals on safari, providing an idea of the habits of the animals and what it is like to be a wildlife photographer in Africa while giving the book a story. He focuses especially on baby animals, which appealed to my children, but doesn't hide the fact that many of the animal cubs get killed by other predators.

Although I think the author is primarily a photographer, we actually preferred the text over the photographs. Some of them are montages of images that make it difficult to determine exactly what he actually saw. He also places small photos of other African animals at random before the text on each page, an odd artistic decision.

He covers leopards, elephants,wild dogs, lions, hyenas, hippos, rhinos,and cheetahs, along with "itty bitty critters" like the oxpecker (a bird that eats insects off of buffaloes), the purple dragonfly, and the dung beetle. Some of the photographs are stunning even with the confusing compilations of images. Overall, the book is a good choice for learning more about African animals, especially large predators.

[Roxanne Hsu Feldman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very clear, personal text set in larger font with plenty of line spacing and page margins makes it highly friendly to primary grade readers. The many close-up and beautiful photographs are collaged, tinted, manipulated to make them look almost like paintings, rather than photography. There is a deliberate toning down of the more fierce nature of the "story" in the photos but the author did not shy away from telling the truth: how a lion cub and and young hyenas were killed -- even though he does express a very humanly tender reaction to such incidents, "Even though this is all part of the natural life-and-death struggle in Africa, I still felt sad about the loss of the young hyenas." (p. 61) And I respect the author's candor, especially when the humans sensibly stay out of the animals' natural behaviors. "When it was dark, we headed back to camp. There was nothing we could do -- only the lioness could save her children. Deadly battles and narrow escapes are part of nature's way." (p.49)

[Catherine Woodman]

This is one view of African animals--heavy on the carnivores and in particular the cats--he uses photos that he has taken on safari, and then adds some intersting stories and facts--both about the particular animals--what he knows about what happened to them after the photos--and some behavioral things about them. Like leopards live and hunt alone at night, that even though you never see them, there are more of them than any other cat in Africa--which I did not know. Then that cheetahs live with their sibs most of their lives if they are males--females raise their kids, and seem to have reasonably large litters. The hierarchy of the living arrangements is also discussed, and while I knew about lions, the other cats came as news. He does elephants, crocodiles, hippos, rhinos, hyenas, and wild dogs--which seems like a bold move as dogs are not well liked in Africa, even though they are a very social animal

[Samantha Penrose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Take your kids on a safari through the wilds of Africa with National Geographic wildlife photographer Robert Haas.
Amazing photographs. Interesting and understandable text.
There is at least one blurb about the hunt/kill and a picture of a bloody faced cheetah cub eating an antelope. It's far from graphic, but depending on the age and personality of your child it may or may not be appropriate.
Chapters:
the leopards of singita
the elephants of okavango
the wild dogs of mala mala
the lions of sabi sand
the scavengers of the savanna
the big grays (hippos and rhinos)
itty bitty critters (oxpeckers, purple dragonflies, dung beetles)
the cheetas of phinda

My only complaint; I wish that there would have been a pronunciation guide to keep me from butchering the african names....

[Kayla Quinn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book ranged from leopards all the way to cheetahs. It was describing how each critter survived in the wild. The person who was telling the story was actually the one who went on the African adventure. You can probably read this book to a five year old. Even though there were big words to pronounce, the children can still tell you which animal it is. This text was very descriptive when showing you how the animals went about eating their food. Children at this age will definitely enjoy this book.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, close-up photographs of cheetahs, lions, elephants, hippos, hyenas, and more African animals are accompanied by first-person accounts of encounters in the wild in this new offering from National Geographic publishing. The photos will draw readers in, but the interesting and detailed stories will keep them engaged.

[Chantel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exciting, well-written stories. I was distracted by the composition of the photographs. Robert Haas digitally combines many photographs on one page. It was too much for me.

Reading this felt like watching a National Geographic special in my mind!

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the photographs in this book!

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting guide to African animals and filled with excellent photographs. I've never seen a bad book published by National Geographic, honestly, those folks are geniuses!

[Sharon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book had excellent photographs. The information was given in a story format and my children enjoyed it.

[Stephanie Delich · Rating 3 out of 5]

easy read (its written for kids) but there are some neat facts and beautiful pictures!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was so cool. I loved learning about the animals in africa. I liked how the author used real pictures of the animals.

[Karla Talbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful images of animals in their natural habitat. Primary students will enjoy studying the pictures. Intermediate students may enjoy the thrill of life on the savannah.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of pictures and information about animals. Also the author/photographer told about the photography process, which was interesting.

[Camille Tesch]

Ages 8-10

[Ashleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book written Robert B. Haas was one of the coolest books I've read. African Critters was not just an ordinary non-fiction book. Usually these types of books are just facts and on each page it's a new animal and facts about the animal. This is actually a story and his encounters with the animals and his thoughts and real observations

Robert writes about his trip to Africa and his encounters with animals in each and everyday. What's also cool about his writing is he explains how he try to find the animals. Once he found the animals he would take pictures of their actions and what they were doing. The first animal that he saw and spent time with was the leopards. Robert was able to picture the two cubs and their mom.

Soon after he spent time with the elephants. As the book progresses he runs into many more African animals. Finally he finishes off with the amazing cheetah.

[Jhawn]

Come along as National Geographic wildlife photographer Robert Haas take you on a thrilling safari through the wilds of Africa.