Since the pictures and graphics are so rich in this Kids book, I think making a computer-based eBook is a probably a good idea. Seems like it should be even less expensive however. My review of the print book is very positive. If your kids like Panda's...this is the one to get. Jane Goodall's name sells it but the pictures are why you would want to own it. Also, I heard that the Adobe eBook Reader shows images quite well.

You are interested in nature or you are interested in Jane Goodall. It's a very informative book and at the same time that it is telling you about jane Goodalls life work, it makes you appreciate the nature of Tanzania (where she did her research for thirty years.)

The okapi was discovered in 1901 and is sometimes called the forest giraffe. Little was known about it until recently; it lives in the rainforest of the Democratic Republic of Congo (previously known as Zaire). The okapi is very unique and only about 200 are found in captivity; wild populations are threatened. This is the first book in English about this endangered species. The book brings together all that is known about the okapi in a very readable format and is illustrated with lovely drawings by one of the authors. The book is introduced by renowned scientist Dr. Jane Goodall; ALL royalties are used in the country of Congo-Zaire to preserve the rainforest, the okapi and all the other plants and animals which call this place home.

Peter Jackson is the chairman of the Cat Specialists Group of the IUCN. This book, published in 1990, includes information on all aspects of the life of the tiger. The book is divided into the following chapters:

Introduction
1. A day in the life of a tiger
2. The origin and spread of the tiger
3. Territory, mating and family life
4. The world of the tiger
5. Tigers and people
6. Man-eaters
7. The decline of the tiger
8. Crisis and action
9. Studying the tiger
10. Problems and solutions
11. Can the tiger survive?

In its 128 pages, it includes all the information concisely, as well as beautiful pictures showing this great cat in the wild.
Although I wish there were a few more, what's there is admirable and of high quality. Knowing the author, you can also read it assured that the information is true and accurate. I, without a doubt, recommend this book to anyone who wishes to learn more about these majestic creatures. Even veterans on the subject will undoubtly find this book beneficial.

Steven Wise, a professor of law at Harvard University presents a compelling case for re-defining the legal status of our closest relatives, the chimpanzees and bonobos (pigmy chimps) from "thinghood" to "personhood". He traces the history of the legal staus of animals from early middle- and near-eastern writings such as the Code of Hammurabi and the Pentateuch, through European and English common law up to the present, using material and precedents derived from the great human rights struggles of the past century. He demonstrates that the materials for such a shift in legal definiton already exist. All that is missing is a great judge who will make a decision that radically restructures already existing precedents while reaffirming fundamental principles. Professor Wise draws on a wide body of knowledge including the legal history of slavery, definitions of consciousness, similarities of chimpanzee and bonobo DNA and brain structure, the work of Jane Goodall and Roger Fouts and childhood developmental stages. This scholarly, excellently researched book (which is also very readable) brings us up to date on the arguments for re-defining creatures, who share with us 97% of DNA, as persons under the law.

RATTLING THE LAW

Just as Peter Singer and Tom Regan dramatically influenced the world of philosophy and environmental ethics by suggesting that nonhuman animals are worthy of moral consideration, this remarkable book by Steven Wise is a major contribution, if not the seminal work, in a developing body of jurisprudential writing that makes a case for the granting of appropriate legal rights to at least some non-human animals.

Rattling the Cage is a comprehensively researched and captivating argument for the extension of legal rights to chimpanzees and bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees). It begins with an historical look at the origins of our pervasive and convenient cultural assumptions about the supposed inferiority of nonhuman beings and how that seemingly insurmountable prejudice is rooted in classical philosophy's concept of a Great Chain of Being that hierarchically places humans just below the Godly realms and all other animals far beneath man, and therefore deservedly subject to every human whim.

Wise argues that the untold suffering of nonhumans at the hands of our species has been dubiously justified through the ages by seemingly infinite variations of this Great Chain of Being theme, and that the time has come, with the assistance of scientific revelations modern technology has afforded us (through such disciplines as psychology, anthropology, physiology, and ethology), to show that some nonhumans are far closer to us in both cognitive capacities and emotional makeup than we have previously believed or allowed ourselves to realize. Wise makes his case by analyzing exhaustive and unfailingly interesting (and sometimes riveting) studies of primate cognition and behavior, as well as anecdotal tales that indelibly etch his argument in our minds, and when one reads stories of such chimps as Lucy, who made tea for internationally renowned primatologist, Roger Fouts, each morning before her lessons in signing, our hearts as well.

But, however thoroughly Wise makes the case for advanced cognition in chimpanzees, and in parts of the book such as his superb chapter on language and consciousness, he makes the case exceedingly well, the fundamental importance of his book lies elsewhere.

As an accomplished attorney with over twenty years experience representing nonhuman beings in court, Wise walks us through the difficulties of finding relief, if not justice, for such a clientele. He explains the difference between legal thinghood and legal personhood, and here begins what this reader considers to be Wise's greatest contribution to the cause of animal rights. He claims that the crucial judicial distinction between the two concepts lies in the capacity for and degree of autonomy the subject or party in question possesses or exhibits, and suddenly his exhaustive presentation of non-human primate cognition takes on newfound meaning. Wise is seriously suggesting that non-human primates deserve to be elevated to the status of legal persons rather than things.

While other highly accomplished attorneys and activists advocate legislation as the most effective route to animal legal rights (and he would surely and warmly welcome such legislation), Wise argues that the common law holds the greatest promise for the recognition of legal personhood and rights in animals.

Conventional wisdom holds that common law judges make rulings solely on the basis of precedent, regardless of the ever-changing contexts in which cases are decided, but Wise shows us with convincing clarity that common law judges act not only in accordance with precedent, but on the bases of policy and principle as well, and that such considerations provide a jurisprudential window through which judges might legitimately elevate chimpanzees to legal personhood and afford them what appropriate rights they deserve. (Anyone who doubts the power of policy and principle to motivate judges need only reflect upon Justice Harlan's historical dissent in Plessy v. Ferguson, where he argued that separate but equal was an unacceptable racial divide, and the fact that his reasoning was adopted almost whole cloth half a century later when the Supreme Court discredited that precedent in Brown v. Board of Education.)

By no means does Wise believe that chimpanzees and bonobos are the only nonhumans entitled to legal rights, but feels the case can most readily be made for these creatures because they are "evolutionarily closest" to us. He no doubt understands the words of Harvard's legendary constitutional law professor, Laurence Tribe, who once wrote that "...the very process of recognizing rights in those...with whom we can already empathize could well pave the way for still further extensions as we move upward along the spiral of moral evolution."

Steven Wise has written a profoundly important book that may well present a blueprint for open-minded judges of conscience to grant long-overdue legal rights to our closest genetic cousins. But it is also contains a very well-written and deeply moving message to the educated lay reader, a plea for compassion and justice so emotionally potent that one will laugh and cry while Wise gradually, logically, and powerfully builds his case, a case that, with no small thanks to his provocative book, may someday soon be won.

For as long as anyone can remember animals have been property of humans. Opinions differ as to why, ranging from god given rights of dominion, to levels of moral considerability, but the end result is generally the same, humans can own animals, and use them for any of a variety of purposes; no question. An animal, despite being a sentient being, in our current American legal system has no more rights to protect it from enslavement or bodily harm than say, a toaster, or a rock. Today we are learning more and more about our human place in the world, and in this investigation many are beginning to question our role as caretakers or rulers of other beings. Steven Wise is one such person. He questions the right of humans to deny sentient creatures legal personhood. What is it about humans, other than tradition and precedent, that fosters the continued enslavement and cruel treatment of nonhuman animals? In this book he focuses particularly on chimpanzees and bonobos, who are humans closest genetic relatives. Wise refers to a wide variety of philosophers, scientific findings, and legal precedents to make this book a compelling testament towards the legal personhood of nonhuman animals.
Wise begins this book by telling the story of Jerom, a chimpanzee who lived and died at the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center. Jerom was intentionally infected with several strains of HIV over his time at the center. When Jerom was near death another chimpanzee, Nathan, was injected with Jerom's blood, which will likely (if it has not already happened) cause his death as well. Wise dedicated this book to Jerom, writing on the dedication page: For Jerom, a person, not a thing.
He continues on to write about a legal wall that exists in our society. It has been standing since the dawn of human laws, separating us humans from everything nonhuman, denying legal rights to anything not on our side of the wall. It is the goal of people like Wise and others of similar philosophies to demolish this wall and grant legal considerability to those nonhuman creatures deserving of such respect. He agrees that not all animals should have as full legal rights as a fully cognizant adult human, but that chimpanzees and bonobos in particular are deserving of protection from enslavement, and invasive bodily harm. He is not asking for chimps to be allowed to vote, but for the American legal system to recognize something other than human as a living being, something deserving of more rights than a toaster.
Wise discusses the history of common law, and its role in the development of our current system. Not so long ago different groups of humans were denied basic rights by this system, i.e. slaves, women, and other minorities. During the era of slavery in America it was nearly unheard of to consider a slave a human being. They had no legal rights, although it is apparent that they are indeed human beings. Darwin stated that only members of the same species are capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring, and members of different races around the world have proven that skin color has nothing to do with ones humanity. However, at the time in history the law did not recognize them, and it was up to the supporters of equality to fight within the system to attain it. Today we look back at the perpetuation of such oppression with much shame and anger. The fact that it was allowed to exist for so long fuels the indignation of the nation. Wise and those like him are hoping that someday animal enslavement will also be an unsavory relic of the past.
In the following chapters Wise supports his theories with scientific data supporting the existence of animal minds. It is impossible to prove that anything is conscious, you and I included, but science shows as closely as possible that chimpanzee and bonobo minds work in very similar ways to human brains. As nearly as we can tell they are capable of emotion, and most certainly pain and suffering. Wise uses these reasons to claim for nonhuman animals the same basic rights that we claim for humans.
Wise, despite being a lawyer, writes in a very conversational tone, inviting the reader to join him on this journey that is easily understood by non-lawyers. All of his arguments are set out in logical procession, marked with humor and some very poignant reflections. There are many strong arguments supporting this issue, but until this book appeared there had been very few resources pulling all of them together in one deeply compelling web of logic and compassion. Wise is incredibly thorough in his arguments, attacking the problem from every angle, philosophical as well as legal and scientific. Just how many different sources of opinion and fact went into the making of this book is shown somewhat by the 66 pages of citations at the end of the book. He was able to filter through ages of legal studies, as well as scientific theory to create this work, the final product being a clear and concise jewel of a book.
The issue at stake in this book is one of life and death to those concerned. It is too late for countless animals that have been forced to suffer and die in laboratories, furthering science to preserve their captors, humans. This is a tragic loss, but as long as there are authors and activists like Steven Wise, Jane Goodall, (who wrote the forward to this book) and many other dedicated individuals and groups we may live to see nonhuman animal enslavement diminished, if not eradicated. This book is setting the stage for further motions in future generations. If this generation can put holes in the wall Wise discussed early in the book, allowing some nonhuman animals to come over to our side, at least in this author's humble opinion, it is a step in the right direction.