Me... Jane





McDonnell, P. (2011). Me... Jane. New York: Little, Brown.

The younger reader will definitely take to this factual story about Jane Goodall and the way she gives her dreams of going to Africa and working with chimpanzees flight.  The illustrations and simply written inserts cater to the simple development of the story.  The images convey the dreams of a young Jane.  McDonnell’s composition of the short facts and meaningful images portray a story that gives hope to the young readers. The final images bring Jane’s seemingly fictitious dreams into reality.  McDonnell includes a photograph of Jane as an adult with chimpanzees.  It’s the story of a dream that comes full circle for younger readers.  This story incites the dreams of youngsters.

Teachers can use this as a biographical piece or to introduce a unit on career goals.  It can also be used to teach caring for animals or to work on the most basic of research skills on a mobile device.

Parents can also use this to cultivate the idea of goals and dreaming of something bigger in the future.  This can also be used in conjunction with Primates.


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