Elephant Have Right of Way: Life With the Wild Animals of Africa - Hardcover

Leslie-Melville, Betty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385306229 ISBN 13: 9780385306225

Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers, 1992

Synopsis

A noted conservationist describes her nearly thirty years living and working in Africa, describing the various animals with which she has worked and providing a firsthand view of the plight of Africa's wild animals.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5-- In a personal, chatty style, Leslie-Melville relates stories about five animals native to Africa and about a few people who are committed to saving them. Through the story of a baby black rhino, readers meet Anna Mertz, who has been instrumental in bringing this species back from the brink of extinction. Daphne Sheldrick raises baby elephant orphans until they are weaned, then turns them over to a female elephant that adopts and cares for them until maturity. George Adamson, famous for raising the lioness Elsa, spends his time teaching lion cubs how to survive in the wild. The book also includes a repeat of the story about the giraffes that were the focus of the author's Daisy Rothschild (Doubleday, 1987). Not all of the selections end happily, but the simple, conversational narration and the straightforward presentation of facts about the animals, their habitats, and their probable future make this an unusually palatable piece of nonfiction. Full-color photographs are somewhat amateurish, as if from a family album, but this quality enhances the charm and immediacy of the text. Realistic discussion of the problems of the African people and their wildlife is handled in a balanced fashion. One awkward point, however, is that the author's explanation of how she and her husband came to live in Africa is completely at odds with her account in Daisy Rothschild.
-Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library System
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

An American woman who lives in Kenya and has played a major role in preserving the endangered Rothschild giraffe (as she described in Daisy Rothschild, 1987) surveys similar efforts on behalf of several species in East Africa, by herself and others, including George Adamson (of lion fame) and Anna Mertz, ``the rhino lady.'' The author's style is conversational, even naive; but her delightful anecdotes about particular animals--zebras, warthogs, cheetahs, and others--offer real, unsentimental insights into the importance of the work described and the problems faced along the way. The color photos, many of them depicting unusual interactions between animals and people, are splendid. An effective brief for preservation efforts. Index. (Nonfiction. 6-10) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0385306229
• ISBN 13: 9780385306225
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 48