Me...Jane - Patrick McDonnell

It was a magical world

full of joy and wonder, 

and Jane felt very much

a part of it. 

When you open up the pages of the book Me...Jane by Patrick McDonnell, you're transported into the childhood of primatologist Jane Goodall. Patrick McDonnell almost channels Cynthia Rylant a little bit in this biographical children's picture book - his language, the illustrations (the feeling they convey, not the illustrations themselves), the run-on sentences, and the short phrases on pages. The page that I most felt this similarity on was this one - 

I think that the repetition of "beating, beating, beating" is what truly made me compare it to Cynthia Rylant. Regardless, I loved this picturebook. It took me back to the days of movies like Gorillas in the Mist, Mighty Joe Young, I Dreamed of Africa, and Born Free. 
The true strength of this book was the illustration. It was simplistic, sweet, innocent, and beautiful. Jane and her stuffed chimpanzee are in every single illustration (minus the double spread of Jane's doodles and drawings of puzzles and societies), and this did two things for me as a reader: 1.) It made me realize how much Jane loved her stuffed chimpanzee, Jubilee; 2.) It made me realize how passionate Jane was and how determined she was to reach her goal of going to Africa and working with animals. 

I really loved the ending of this book, where it shows an illustrated Jane in a tent waking up for the day followed by the words "...to awake one day..." and met with a real-life picture of Dr. Goodall on the next page with the words "...to her dream come true." I think that this book would be fantastic for children in learning about animals, in learning about Jane Goodall, and even simply in learning about not giving up and continuing chasing their dreams. In the end of the book, there were two additional sections - an "About Jane Goodall" section and a "A Message from Jane" section. I loved the "A Message from Jane" section so much I just had to put some of it here. She writes, 
Each one of us makes a difference. 
We cannot live through a single day 
without making an impact on the world around us - 
and we have a choice as to what sort of difference we make. 
The life of each one of us matters in the scheme of things, 
and I encourage everyone, especially young people, 
to make the world a better place for people, animals, and the environment. 
Children are motivated when they can see 
the positive results their hard work can have. 
As I travel, I meet hundreds of Roots & Shoots groups. 
They are always eager to tell "Dr. Jane" what they've been doing 
and how they are making a difference in their communities. 
Whether they've done something simple, like recycling or collecting trash, 
or something that requires a great deal of effort, 
like restoring a wetland or raising money for street children 
or a local dog shelter, 
they are a continual source of inspiration for me 
and for other children around the world. 
I invite you to get involved!
What a cool way for Jane Goodall to make her voice heard to children who want to get involved. If you want to learn more about her organization, Roots & Shoots, check it out here. And I'll leave you with one of the pictures I took almost exactly 6 years ago early morning at Kruger National Park in South Africa - one of the sweet elephants I saw. It's not hard to think about why Dr. Jane is where she is.