Jungle Jack Hanna's Safari Adventure
Grade 1-3-According to Hanna, a safari "...used to be a hunting trip to Africa, but these days it's a journey to see and photograph all the fascinating animals that live there." Leaving from Nairobi, Hanna and his crew locate a variety of creatures, including zebras, lions, and giraffes. Landscapes and people round out the photographic journey. This personal account reads much like a family vacation scrapbook-extremely interesting to those involved and considerably less so to everyone else. The full-color photographs are sometimes out of focus and over or under exposed. Composition also leaves something to be desired. Heads of animals and people are sometimes severed. The photo of ostriches is captioned "...they can run up to 40 miles an hour," while the birds' legs have been cropped out of the picture. The text is equally lacking. Stilted language-" 'Wow! It's a leopard!' I said"; "Boy, was I scared!"-alternates with didactic and often patronizing tones. With all the fine books available on Africa, this one is not a first choice.Lisa Wu Stowe, Great Neck Library, NYCopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.