The Legacy of Jane Goodall: Using Children's Literature to Teach about an Iconic Scientist

When I was a boy in the 1970s, I watched a National Geographic documentary about a young woman scientist who traveled from her native United Kingdom to live in the forests of Tanzania to learn about chimpanzees in their natural habitat. The documentary, Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees (1965), left me inspired by her unbridled enthusiasm. Indeed, Jane Goodall's lifelong passion for observing animals compelled her to leave the comforts of her home to live in the remote forest and study as much as she could about chimpanzees. For years throughout my schooling, I would think about Jane Goodall and wonder what had become of her. Without the aid and benefit of the Internet at that time, I was left speculating whether her adventurous quest proved valuable.

Two decades later, I was teaching second grade. By happenstance, I found a videocassette of that documentary that had piqued my curiosity for the dedicated woman who had a penchant for observing and socially connecting with chimpanzees. I decided to show my students the documentary with the aim of introducing the living scientist and recognizing her contributions to primatology, while stimulating their inquisitive nature to pursue their own study of animals. At the time, children's books about Jane Goodall were not readily available, so I used encyclopedic entries that my students and I read together to learn more about her life work.

Indeed, the children's literature on Jane Good-all while I was growing up and available to me as a young public-school teacher was scarce. At the time it seemed nonexistent. Today, however, there is a wide range of children's books that teachers, librarians, and parents can use to offer insight into Goodall's legacy, such as the 2012 Caldecott Honor book Me…Jane (McDonnell; 2011). My goal in this article is to share how you can use these children's books as instructional tools to help students develop historical knowledge about Jane Goodall and recognize her contributions to science. Through their reading endeavors, I expect that students can become inspired to pursue their own research or take action against injustice to animals or humans alike.

Exploring the Lived Experiences of Jane Goodall through Children's Books

There are many contemporary children's books on Jane Goodall. Plenty of them share the same elements of her inspiring story through salient pictures and photographs and powerful messages, leaving young readers with lasting impressions. The principal advantage of having a spread of books that recount these aspects of Goodall's life is that you can use the inherent text variations to scaffold instruction and support all learners. You can choose from these books to meet the unique needs of individual children predicated on different features.

Reading levels: A range of publications exist, from a board book to picture and chapter books and a graphic novel. You can present the books first, allow the students to browse the content and text features, and then help them select ones that align with their reading level: not terribly hard or easy, but challenging enough.

Preferences: Of course, students should be given the opportunity to select their own books. However, you may want to demonstrate how the presentation of content differs among them. You can compare the books composed of hand-painted pictures with those that display vivid photographs and those that offer differing mediums. The students can then select the books they favor based on the graphic representations they find appealing.

Reading purposes and interests: You can remind students that readers often have a purpose when they select books: to be entertained, to strengthen their understanding of a topic, or to learn a new skill, among others, not to mention a blend of these intentions. Moreover, you can emphasize that knowing their purpose enhances the reading experience.

As all teachers and librarians can attest, when presenting books to children, certain factors certainly matter: the literary merit; the authenticity of the content; the unification of text, illustrations...