Pangolina
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
★ "Who can resist a book about an endangered animal by renowned conservationist Jane Goodall?”—Booklist, starred review
★"Thoughtfully taps our natural capacity for empathy and kindness in caring for all creatures and our planet."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
From legendary naturalist Jane Goodall, an absorbing fictional tale that will steal hearts and open minds about the plight of the pangolin, the only mammalian species with scales, and endangered by illegal trafficking.
After a blissful babyhood being cared for by her loving mother, Pangolina ventures out alone into the forest to become an independent adult, helped along by wise, older animal companions, including a civet and a bat. But one day cruel hunters trap Pangolina, putting her into a cage along with her friends, and bring them to a market to be sold as wild game. Pangolina is especially vulnerable, since her scales are prized by humans who believe they have curative powers. To the rescue comes a small girl who knows that pangolins are friendly fellow creatures who have feelings too, and who convinces her mother to buy Pangolina and set her free. Jane Goodall's many followers and all animal-loving children and adult picture book fans will be riveted by this suspenseful and heartwarming fictional story set in China and including an authoritative informational page about pangolins and suggestions for how to help fight animal trafficking.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Primatologist Goodall (The Eagle & the Wren) protests the endangered species trade with the story of Pangolina, a wide-eyed, thoughtful pangolin, who describes her mother's care ("Every night she went out to get food, always returning so I could drink her rich, warm, delicious milk"), wild animal friends, and the tan-skinned human girl she encounters in the forest ("She seemed excited and her eyes were kind"). Then tragedy hits: Pangolina and her friends are captured and brought to a market by a man who "thinks we are just things that have no feelings." The next day "there were screams of pain, and there was blood, and the smell of fear was all around me," but Pangolina is saved by the girl she met earlier, whose empathy gives her the courage to do what's right for the pangolin and results in telling "more and more children about the animals of China." Illustrator Ma (Leaf, for adults) creates simple, engaging creatures with huge eyes that are full of feeling. Passages that describe Pangolina's capture are both sudden and graphic in a telling from the animal's point of view that leaves no doubt about the harm caused. Though extensive back matter at times elides cultural context, it includes information about this endangered species and steps to fight the trade. Ages 4–8.
