How it Was With Dooms: A True Story from Africa (Aladdin Picture Books)
Grade 2-5.  In this photo-essay, 12-year-old Xan Hopcraft recounts the life of Dooms, a cheetah who lived on the Hopcrafts' game ranch in Kenya until Xan was 7. Although readers will learn some facts about cheetahs, Dooms seems more like an overgrown pet than a wild animal. The inclusion of wildlife photographer Carol Hopcraft's pictures from the family album reinforces this perception. The family's close relationship with Dooms is apparent, and his death affected his human companions deeply. Yet Xan's comments often seem too reflective and philosophical for someone so young, and he sometimes ascribes human emotions and attitudes to the big cat. The prevailing sense of Dooms as an exotic pet is reinforced by the book's ending, when the veterinarian brings a baby cheetah for the family to raise after Dooms's death. A possible purchase for those interested in interactions between human and unusual animals but hardly an informative or representative study of life in the wild.?Kathy Piehl, Mankato State University, MNCopyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.