A Life in the Wild

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* The author of Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes (2005) offers another excellent introduction to animal conservation in this biography of pioneering environmentalist Schaller. Organized chronologically, the chapters begin with Schaller’s childhood flight from Germany to the U.S. in 1947, when the young animal lover, able to take only a few possessions to America, chose a treasured collection of bird eggs. The majority of the book, however, focuses on Schaller’s adult career as a researcher who transformed field biology with his studies of gorillas, tigers, lions, and other wild creatures around the globe. In clear, detailed prose, Turner shows how Schaller rejected the nineteenth-century approach to studying exotic animals (“find it, kill it, examine the corpse”) in favor of low-impact methods, proving that “a supposedly dangerous animal could be observed in the wild with minimal risk.” Turner’s vivid, moment-by-moment descriptions of animal encounters will captivate readers, as will Schaller’s color photos and reproduced field notes, which illustrate the chapters along with maps indicating the locations of his studies. Young environmentalists will welcome the appended material, which includes a “Getting Involved” section. Relying heavily on Schaller’s own writings as well as interviews with Schaller and his wife, Turner’s stirring portrait spotlights a scientist’s invaluable contributions to animal study; the gritty, thrilling particulars of fieldwork; and the urgent necessity to protect wild creatures and their habitats. Grades 5-8. --Gillian Engberg

Review

“Although Turner covers a lot of ground, including some fascinating behavioral science, she also tells the stories of individual animals.” —Natural History Magazine

“Turner's stirring portrait spotlights a scientist's invaluable contributions to animal study; the gritty, thrilling particulars of fieldwork; and the urgent necessity to protect wild creatures and their habitats.” —Starred, Booklist

“Taking young readers to the ends of the earth . . . Pamela S. Turner offers an absorbing introduction to a scientist in the field—and in the savannah, the forest, the mountains and any other remote animal habitat you can think of.” —Washington Post Book World

“A Life in the Wild can obviously be used as an enrichment book, but it is far more than that . . .this is a wonderful book for kids to read to see that science is definitely not all done by Einstein-like caricatures in some messy lab.” —National Science Teachers Association (NSTA.org)

“Pamela S. Turner’s A Life in the Wild is the only biography written for children (ages 10 and up) about this man on a mission.”—Wildlife Conservation Magazine

“Turner neatly blends lively accounts of Schaller’s life in various wildernesses with wife and kids with more serious discussion of his work and seminal discoveries about animal behavior.”—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“The writing is both clear and lively.”—School Library Journal

“This introduction to an environmental hero, the first for young readers, is timely and inspiring, and the endmatter appropriately includes suggestions for reader involvement in conservation activities.” — Starred, Kirkus Reviews

“Animal lovers and conservation-minded students will enjoy this excellent introduction to Schaller and his ideas.” —VOYA

Product Description

For more than fifty years, explorer-naturalist George Schaller has been on a mission: to save the world’s great wild beasts and their environments. In this compelling biography, illustrated with Schaller’s own striking photographs, Pamela S. Turner examines the amazing life and groundbreaking work of the man International Wildlife calls “the world’s foremost field biologist.” Schaller’s landmark research revolutionalized field biology, demonstrating that it is possible to study dangerous animals in their own habitats: mountain gorillas in Central Africa, predatory tigers in India, mysterious snow leopards in the Himalayas, and many others. His insights about species and environment led him to successfully advocate for the protection of over 190,000 square miles of wilderness around the world – an area the size of Spain.

Packed with grand adventure, intriguing science, dramatic photographs, and Schaller’s own breathtaking descriptions of the natural world and the animals who live in it, this full-color biography brilliantly captures the spirit and passion of George Schaller’s unusual – and inspiring – life in the wild.

Book Description

For more than fifty years, explorer-naturalist George Schaller has been on a mission: to save the world’s great wild beasts and their environments. In this compelling biography, illustrated with Schaller’s own striking photographs, Pamela S. Turner examines the amazing life and groundbreaking work of the man International Wildlife calls “the world’s foremost field biologist.” Schaller’s landmark research revolutionalized field biology, demonstrating that it is possible to study dangerous animals in their own habitats: mountain gorillas in Central Africa, predatory tigers in India, mysterious snow leopards in the Himalayas, and many others. His insights about species and environment led him to successfully advocate for the protection of over 190,000 square miles of wilderness around the world – an area the size of Spain.

Packed with grand adventure, intriguing science, dramatic photographs, and Schaller’s own breathtaking descriptions of the natural world and the animals who live in it, this full-color biography brilliantly captures the spirit and passion of George Schaller’s unusual – and inspiring – life in the wild.

About the Author

PAMELA S. TURNER is the author of several award-winning books for children, including Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes, an ALA Notable Book and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. She lives in Oakland, California.