SAVING THE CHIMPANZEE

It may seem premature to promote careers in wildlife conservation in an appeal aimed at a younger primary-grade audience, but Eason forges ahead anyway. She addresses “mission-ready” readers in her introduction and finishes with lines of relevant work from trained scientist to field guide, filmmaker, and even public relations specialist. In between, she engagingly positions chimpanzees as our closest living relatives, intelligent and feeling. The author tallies a range of threats to their existence, from human-spread diseases, poaching for bushmeat, and the effects of climate change to habitat loss due to logging, agriculture, and mining. Though the pages are crowded with boxes of bite-size narrative, close-up photos of chimps with cameos of gorillas, pygmy hippos, and other forest neighbors are wedged in to add visual appeal. Smiling “Kids on a Mission” pop into view periodically to suggest hands-on ways of supporting conservation efforts; a bulleted “Take Action” list offers further ideas. The generous backmatter includes age-appropriate resources as well as leads to career-oriented websites.