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Who Was . . . ? Series

Who Is Jane Goodall?

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A life in the wild!

Jane Goodall, born in London, England, always loved animals and wanted to study them in their natural habitats. So at age twenty-six, off she went to Africa! Goodall's up-close observations of chimpanzees changed what we know about them and paved the way for many female scientists who came after her. Now her story comes to life in this biography with black-and-white illustrations throughout.

Audible Audio

First published November 1, 2012

284 people are currently reading
1174 people want to read

About the author

Roberta Edwards

37 books49 followers
Roberta Edwards lives in New York, New York.

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5 stars
916 (46%)
4 stars
662 (33%)
3 stars
307 (15%)
2 stars
46 (2%)
1 star
18 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews
Profile Image for Mischenko.
1,033 reviews94 followers
February 15, 2017
Perfect easy chapter book for children to learn about Jane Goodall. Illustrated and engaging with tons of facts.

5*****

Profile Image for Tracy.
692 reviews55 followers
October 25, 2021
OK so call me stupid, but I had never heard of Jane Goodall. I'm definitely aware of people who studied wildlife in Africa, but Jane specialized in chimpanzees. And by the way, chimpanzees are not monkeys. Didn't know that either! So reading this children's history book was good for me...
Profile Image for Natalie.
3,366 reviews188 followers
September 21, 2021
Another great entry in this fantastic series!

I think we all "know" who Jane Goodall is, but it was fun learning some more facts.

*They didn't think it was appropriate for her to live on her own in Africa so for the first few months her mom came to live with her. Moms are the best!!!

*As a child she sat for five hours quietly waiting in the barn for a hen to lay an egg, because she wanted to see what it was like. Her parents were frantic looking for her.

*It was interesting learning about the chimps, how they had bullies, wars, loving caregivers/leaders, and even psychopaths! (That female chimp was CRAZY!)

Jane is such a fantastic woman. A great role model for us all.
5 reviews5 followers
December 18, 2017
Who is Jane Goodall

This would be a good book to read because it gives lots of detail in the book and tells how she got older and loved the wild with her chimpanzee. she love them so much that she would got visit them everyday and when she got older. Jane and her sister got sick and they did not bring any medicine with them but then after like three days they got better.Jane sister went back home to England and Jane stayed there and so she started to do research on the chimps as they would fight over who would become the group leader and they would play king of the hill. And who ever would win would leads the team through battles against other animals and sometimes they would win or sometimes they will retreat back to their base. I would recommend this book to kids that like adventurous and who also like romance and the wild and love Animals.
840 reviews
May 25, 2020
Great little book about a very interesting woman. Love these Who Is/Was books.
Profile Image for Jean-Marie.
974 reviews51 followers
April 9, 2019
Our family had the good fortune of hearing Dr. Jane Goodall speak in person last month. This was one of two biographical Goodall books the 11-year-old and I borrowed from the library to learn more about this living legend. Young readers will enjoy this quick read. Two thumbs up.
Profile Image for Adrianne.
471 reviews
July 2, 2021
My daughter loves these books! The only con was the heavy Darwinian evolution tidbits. But, it gave us great food for fodder.
Profile Image for Nathaniel Dykstra.
86 reviews
October 6, 2019
Summary-
Jane Goodall was a very young girl who developed a passion for chimpanzees. She later did everything in her power to live in Africa among such creatures to study and make friends with. She had named many of them and even grieved over few. She would go on to start many programs and travel the world, informing others on what she thought best.

Review-
I've only read 3 Who Was/Is books (Who was Albert Einstein, Who Is Jeff Kinney, Who Is Jane Goodall) and I think this is the best of the bunch. The illustrations are fairly great, but could be better. The facts in here were very interesting, and even educated me on some things. I would recommend it to anyone who is willing to learn things about famous or important people.
Profile Image for Ale &#x1f496;.
34 reviews
December 18, 2022
It’s crazy how people can be born with a difficult and unique, yet incredibly important life mission. I didn’t know her work was so important aside from scientific research. I think it is a really nice book for children and I love these series of “Who is…” because you can learn from many different people that have had a great impact on the world, without us even realizing. My favorite part was learning about Vanne, such a caring and brave mom! (Also, it was creepy and funny to learn how similar we are to chimpanzees! I mean, sign language?!) 🙊⭐️
Profile Image for Alex.
708 reviews
February 11, 2018
I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when I learned about chimpanzees. I also enjoyed this book because I liked the part when I learned about lots of people.
Profile Image for Sarah.
15 reviews
May 23, 2022
I only read this because of school but it was good because it was just a quick read and interesting!! I recommend reading if you are bored 😁😁
Profile Image for Tricia.
204 reviews11 followers
May 28, 2017
We listened to this on our drive to Fort Worth. I learned so much about Jane and chimpanzees.
Profile Image for Kenneth.
999 reviews6 followers
January 21, 2025
I liked this book very much as it is 105 pages in length, but has little text on each page and is easily read in two sittings. I suppose that someone as young as 10 years old would really enjoy this book, but surprisingly, it would be informative for a middle school or even high school student as a base for a school report. It is very detailed and covers all of the basic area of Jane Goodall's life. You feel is as you know the subject at the completion of the book.
Profile Image for Tina.
1,192 reviews48 followers
March 12, 2017
Ms Goodall's work has ensured that we continue to learn about chimpanzees in the wild, and learn the value of protecting their natural habitats.
Profile Image for The Styling Librarian.
2,170 reviews194 followers
December 16, 2012
Who is Jane Goodall? by Roberta Edwards, illustrated by John O'Brien - Here's my first non-fiction chapter book that I read alongside my son. We didn't read aloud, just silently read together and then discussed as the story progressed. For example when we were reading the page where Jane was attacked by a chimpanzee I said "oh no, this is terrible" and my son said "Shh, I'm not there yet... oh no mommy, did this really happen?!" When we read the pages about a chimpanzee who had no empathy and went on a killing spree, we had a discussion on some humans who also don't care about how their actions hurt others... I loved this new biography entry into Jane Goodall's life. I think it is the perfect book to accompany those who loved both The Watcher and Me...Jane. Well done even in following her marriage, divorce, and family member involvement in her life. Also, I love how the end leads children to think about how they can also help the earth and learn with Jane Goodall!
28 reviews
March 3, 2016
I liked this book and thought it was very interesting. It's cool how from the age of 10 she knew she was going to go to Africa and be with the monkeys. It really would take some guts to move into Africa and have no communication, for the most part, with any of your friends or family (except for her mom who she was with at the beginning ) . I know I couldn't do it. Also it's interesting how's she's not really afraid of anything but leopards... she's in a jungle for crying out loud! Jane was very patient. She would watch the, and watch them and then they'd finally get used to her and come up to her. Jane could even tell which chimp was which. Jane even got into a fight with one of them, if I were her after that'd I would just leave but she didn't. This book was very interesting, I didn't know how smart some animals could actually be. And how a person could basically communicate with the chimpanzees. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves animals.
Profile Image for Thaynes4.
16 reviews
April 20, 2015
Born in London, England, Jane Goodall always loved animals and being outdoors. She received a toy animal chimpanzee (that she named Jubilee after a chimp they were following on the news) from her father, but little did she know that later she would study animals in their natural habitats. At the age of 26, she went to Africa to Gombe Stream Game Reserve to study animals in their natural habitat, up-close and personal recognizing the similarities between humans and chimps. She observed chimpanzees, which changed what we know about them, and paved the way for many female scientists who came after her.
Profile Image for Isabelle.
30 reviews
April 6, 2016
This book was very short, but interesting. I really liked learning about Jane and her life. I thought it was cute how her interest in chimps started with a toy chimp she got when she was a little kid! I liked how this book explained a lot about her research. I liked how she gave all the chimps names and a lot of them started with the letter F. She is so devoted to her life's work. It was very courageous of her to take on the jobs researching the chimps in the jungle. Now she travels the world giving speeches and inspiring people.
Profile Image for Maricarmen Estrada M.
380 reviews89 followers
December 29, 2015
Great book for young readers about this remarkable woman. I loved the kind of relationship and support she had from her family, specially from her mother. There were personal facts I didn't know about her such as her two marriages and her son Grub.
Profile Image for Daniel Schulte.
365 reviews4 followers
November 17, 2015
I thought this was a great book. It gave a good overview of Jane Goodall's accomplishments, kept it simple enough for early readers, had interesting illustrations, and finished with a message about how readers can add to Jane's legacy.
Profile Image for Karli.
247 reviews13 followers
January 18, 2014
My daughter is loving these books - and I love how much they teach her.
Profile Image for Erin Fowler.
319 reviews
December 30, 2016
Very interesting read about the life of Jane Goodall. I learned a lot about her life and family as well as some information about chimps that I never knew.
Profile Image for Marina Kahn.
423 reviews18 followers
January 19, 2023
This is only the second book I've read of the Who Was? Who Is? series. My first was about Benjamin Franklin. I'm going to continue to read these little gems. They are easy to read and provide excellent background material for their subject matter without forcing you to read a huge tome.
So, I decided to read this first before I started to read In the Shadow of Man which was my book club pick of the month of January.
All I can say is Jane is a remarkable and brave woman. As a young girl Jane loved the outdoors and all animals. She was introduced to chimpanzees by her father who gifted her a stuffed toy chimp named Jubilee after a Chimp who was kept in the London Zoo.
In July 1960,at the age of 26 Jane traveled from England to Tanzania and ventured into the little known world of wild chimpanzees. Through over 60 years of groundbreaking work studying the behavior of chimpanzees and explaining to the world the need to protect them and their environment from extinction.
Jane achieved much through her courageous drive and energy and the support of many of her colleagues and family. Dr. Leakey, Jane's Mom Vanne, her sister Judy, her first husband Hugo van Lawick and her second husband Derek Bryson.
We get to meet several of the chimps that Jane studied and also learn about the illnesses and hardships she had to face.
Great little book with lots of information.

Profile Image for Johannah A Classy Rebel Reader.
263 reviews
December 24, 2020
QOTD: What is your favorite holiday treat to eat?

“Who Is Jane Goodall?” by Roberta Edwards, is about the famous Jane Goodall and her work with chimpanzees. Jane was born on April 3, 1934, in London, United Kingdom. From a young age, Jane loved animals and even had a toy chimpanzee named Jubilee. At age 23, Jane traveled to Kenya and met Dr. Louis Leakey, who would help her get into the role of observing the chimpanzees. Jane discovered many great things about the chimpanzees, wrote multiple books, and still travels around the world speaking about the threats facing chimpanzees and the environment.

(Book 69 of 100) I love learning about Jane Goodall! While I was going to college to become a teacher, I even dressed up as Jane Goodall for a Living History Museum activity. Students could walk around the room, pick a person they wanted to learn about, press a "button" and we would start talking like we were that person. It was so much fun and I hope to do it in my classroom. I give this book a 4/5-star rating. I recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about Jane Goodall.

#WhoIsJaneGoodall #RobertaEdwards #100BooksInOneYear #Imaclassyrebelreader #lookatmyclassyrebelread #JaneGoodall #Biography #Chimpanzees #LivingHistoryMuseum #DavidGreyBeard #TermitesOnAStick
7 reviews1 follower
February 26, 2025
who is Jane goodall by roberta Edwards is a autobiography about the lady that studied chimpanzee's. jane goodall started out with her dad Mortimer who was an engineer, and her mom who was a novelist. When she graduated high school she wanted to learn more about animals in college so she became a secretary, a while later, her friend from school sent her a letter to come visit her at her family's farm in Africa. she wanted to go but it was expensive, so she got a job as a waitress in Bournemouth. In 1957 Jane boarded a ship to Africa. A couple weeks after being there she met Louis Leakey, a fossil Hunter who lived in Africa for the majority of his life met Jane and was fascinated with her studies. Louis Leakey gave her a job, it was digging for fossils, after her job with Leakey she became excited with chimps. She even named them and studied them. there once was a war between the chimps that lasted a couple years. she had some favorite chimps who were good mothers and fathers and some bad ones. she went on to recieve many awards for her work and is still alive today

I rate this book a 4/5 because I also love animals and I will reccomend this book to anyone who enjoys adventure and success
Displaying 1 - 30 of 192 reviews

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