Upper grade school students can gain more information from the notes at the end. The text is fairly simple for young readers to follow as well and the illustrations can help them along. Suggested Ages – Young readers will enjoy imagining themselves as a curious five-year-old developing into a “watcher”. This is just one of the many great biographical picture books that Winter has written – other favorites of mine are Wangari’s Trees of Peace and Follow the Drinking Gourd. Her focus on Jane’s perseverance and patience helps the reader to realize just how amazing her career has been. Brett Morgen’s critically acclaimed film JANE will be released in. Winter own playful illustrations bring brightness to the story, including the sadder parts like when Jane falls ill or the chimpanzees are in danger from hunters. Jane Goodall’s groundbreaking chimpanzee research redefined what it means to be human. After the story, Winter provides a bit more detail about Goodall’s life including the roots of her own fascination with Jane.

The excerpts from her journals punctuate the story and give the reader insight into what it would be like to study these wild animals.

She tells us in her author’s note at the end of this book that, as a child, she wished that she could have read about someone like Jane Goodall a brave woman who wasn’t afraid to do something that had never been done before. She traces her talent for observation and her interest in Africa from Goodall’s childhood through her career as a scientist. Jeanette Winter is a prolific and award winning American children’s author and illustrator. Winter cleverly starts the story when little Jane Goodall is just five years old, the same age as many readers of her book.

I recently saw the wonderful documentary, Jane, and came home to re-read Jeanette Winter’s picture book, The Watcher, to my girls. Who: Jane Goodall, (inside) Scientist, Studied Chimps What: Looked at Chimps, (inside) Found out chimps eat bugs and make tools.

The watcher jane goodall