Description
Biographies are the bomb! They guide us step-by-step through the lives of our favorite personalities, satisfy our curiosity about how the rich and famous got that way, and sometimes, if we’re lucky, they even show us a bit of ourselves in the story.
Me…Jane, the new picture book biography by Patrick McDonnell, does all those things. This sweet, quaintly-illustrated picture book quickly conjured up my childhood and whisked me back to that time in my life when I believed nothing was out of my reach; when I believed that whatever I desired to be, know and experience was absolutely possible.
Me…Jane, introduces the world – in picture book format – to a little girl with a tiny stuffed chimpanzee and a big, big imagination, who eventually became the famed environmentalist and animal activist we know as Dr. Jane Goodall.
In the book, imaginative Jane takes her faithful, life-like monkey with her as she climbs her favorite tree, observes animals and plants, and imagines that her backyard is actually the wilds of the African jungle. With a patience beyond her years, she observes chickens at nest, birds in flight, and anything else that catches her curious nature-loving fancy.
Me…Jane is a wonderful book. McDonnell manages, in just a few words, to capture the joy, wonder and youthful exuberance of a little girl with a heart of gold and an imagination that’s absolutely out of this world. The prose is age-appropriate for the elementary reader, yet doesn’t lose the older reader in the process. The whimsical artwork is done in warm earth tones – perfect for a nature book – and tugs at the heartstrings and mind-strings of readers big and small. Also, McDonnell includes a wonderful footnote on Goodall at the end, and even offers readers a personal message from the good doctor that is nothing short of inspirational.
I must confess, this is my first encounter with a Patrick McDonnell book, but…I’m hooked. He has managed to feed my eyes with lovely artwork, my curiosity with a great biography, and my inner child with a story that reminds me of that golden time when all things were new to me, and everything possible.
Thank you, Mr. McDonnell!
Best wishes and happy reading,
Rita Lorraine
PICTURE BOOK DEPOT
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