African Critters

Haas, Robert B.

3.96

68 ratings by Goodreads

ISBN 10: 1426303181 ISBN 13: 9781426303180

Publisher: Natl Geographic Soc Childrens books, 2008

With a dramatic first-person narrative and close-up photography that brings kids into the thick of the action, National Geographic photographer Robert B. Haas gives us a rare glimpse into the struggles for survival in the African wilderness. We accompany him in his jeep, camera primed and ready to react. With stories and photographs that portray actual events, we wait patiently to spot leopard cubs coming out of their cave to play; we are charged by protective adult elephants who surround a new-born; we move side-by-side with a clan of wild dogs as they hunt impalas.

All the stories in the book are intimate, engaging, and true. Haas shares his work with readers, teaching the key lessons that all wildlife photographers live by: patience, persistence, and an intense interest in animals. "When we are out there, we are working inside a world that is both fascinating and historic." This beautiful and inviting book draws readers into Haas's passion for Africa, for conservation, and for finding harmony between the actions of humans and the survival of wild animals.

African Critters is a wonderful holiday gift for animal lovers of all ages, a valuable sourcebook for school reports, and an essential addition to any animal book collection.

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Review:

Striking photocollages, most in lush color, illustrate, sometimes problematically, this wildlife photographer's account of adventures in animal preserves in southern Africa. Short chapters describe exciting encounters with leopards, elephants, wild dogs, lions, hyenas, hippos, rhinos and cheetahs, as well as smaller creatures. The first paragraph on each double-page spread begins with a tiny photographic vignette, and the endpapers are composed of a pattern of even smaller photographs of various animals. "Learning About " boxes add further facts. An excellent index identifies the animals in larger pictures, even if unidentified in the text, but readers will search in vain for labels for some of the smaller images. The digitally enhanced composite photographs show the animals in a variety of poses but can be confusing, as when a hyena and her two cubs appear as a much larger family: With composites, the reader can't tell what is real. In an afterword, the author explains his presentation as "artistic license" to represent his emotional experience, but it, like the cover montage, may misrepresent the animals' world. (glossary, index, references) (Nonfiction. 7-12) (Kirkus Reviews) --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author:

Robert B. Haas has traveled extensively throughout Africa, photographing animals from the ground and from the air. His work has appeared in National Geographic Magazine and has been featured in his books Through the Eyes of the Gods: An Aerial Vision of Africa and Through the Eyes of the Condor: An Aerial Vision of Latin America, both published by National Geographic.

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