Owen and Mzee, The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship, by Craig Hatkoff and Isabella Hatkoff, illustrated by Peter Greste

Reader Response: I think that this story ties in very strongly of our study of biodiversity and biomes. This story is particularly interesting because these animals do not ordinarily interact with one another, and because it follows the narrative of the lives of these two animals, it invokes an emotional response. The reader begins to personify the two animals and their blossoming “friendship”. This story weaves together factual science information and tells the story of an unlikely friendship, which appeals to students in the middle grade levels.

Evaluator Response: I think the strengths of this book for classroom use lie in the fact that this in a non-fiction book that tells a detailed, scientific story about animal adaptation. The book is lengthy and contains some rather complex details about the original conditions Owen was found in after a Tsunami in Kenya, how the Conservancy brought Owen into livable conditions, and how the two animals adapted to one another for protection and affection. This is not the typical children’s picture book that avoids scientifically dense bits of information for the sake of creating a narrative. This book seamlessly weaves the two together.

Teacher Response: If there was a student in my class that really enjoyed reading this story, I would direct that student to other non-fiction texts about animal survival and adaptation. One longer non-fiction novel that students might like would be Babylon’s Ark, an Incredible Rescue of the Bagdad Zoo, by Lawrence Anthony. This story details how Iraq and U.S.  troops had to work together to evacuate the zoo in the heart of Bagdad after the Iraq War began.

            For students who might be at a lower reading level, I would recommend The Bravest Dog Ever, the True Story of Balto, by Natalie Sandiford. This 48 page book is written like a novel , but is the true story of a dog who was the leader of a bobsled team in one of the worst snow storms to hit Alaska in decades. Students who enjoy learning about animals and survival instincts will devour this book.

Literacy Coach Response: As a literacy coach recommending teachers use this text in your classroom, I would have teachers use it after teaching the Grassland and Tropical Grassland biome. If students have spent some time exploring this biome in particular, as a class or as an individual project, this text would give teachers a way to invest students more in the animal species of this biome. Further, teachers could juxtapose this text after teaching about predator-prey relationships in this biome, and explain that these two species ordinarily have no incentive to work together, but in their unusual environmental setting in captivity, were drawn to one another despite physiological differences.

 

Scholastic Books has also some teacher resources available to go along with this book, including video clips, and interactive Owen and Mzee games for students, that can be found at http://www.scholastic.com/browse/collection.jsp?id=669