This Place Is Wild: East Africa (Imagine Living Here) - Hardcover

Grade 2-4AThis accessible but flawed introduction to the animals of East Africa also offers a brief view of the Masai people who live in close proximity to these wild creatures. Soft colored illustrations are pleasing to the eye. A scene depicting poachers de-tusking a downed elephant is quite poignant and might lead students to seek out the whys, hows, and evils of poaching. A well-thought-out map shows readers exactly where the action takes place. There is no glossary but new words and concepts such as "pronking" and "ecotourism" are explained in the text and listed in the index. There is cause for some concern, however. Lions are misleadingly referred to as "lazy." Calling the marabou stork "ugly" is subjective. Perhaps most disturbing is the sweeping generalization Cobb uses when claiming "the Europeans killed for sport." All Europeans? There is little place for stereotyping in today's science writing for youngsters. Beyond that, Wild might be helpful when used with Caren Stelson's nicely photographed Safari (Carolrhoda, 1989), which includes further data on the lifestyle of the Masai.AAnne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 3^-5, younger for reading aloud. Cobb and artist Barbara Lavallee team up again in a new volume in the Imagine Living Here series. This time they present life in East Africa, explaining the area's uniqueness and its extraordinary animal life. They take a look at the largest and tallest land animals (elephants and giraffes) as well as the grass-eaters (wildebeests and zebras) and the meat-eaters (lions, cheetahs, and hyenas). The attractive, crisply designed book also includes information about the Masai people, with Lavallee's appealing illustrations depicting how the Masai manage to live close to nature without harming it. In addition, Cobb considers the threat modern development presents to the habitats of wild animals. An index makes this imaginative resource all the more valuable and accessible to young readers. Shelley Townsend-Hudson