Owen and Mzee: Language of Friendship
School year: Year 1, Year 2
No. of pages 40
Published: 2007
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This book is the winner of numerous awards
This book is part of a book series called Owen And Mzee .
This book is aimed at children in preschool-3rd grade.
This book has been graded for interest at 4-8 years.
There are 40 pages in this book.
This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+).
This book was published in 2007 by Scholastic Australia .
Craig Hatkoff is the co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival and of Turtle Pond Publications. Both Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship are New York Times bestsellers. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in Manhattan.
This book is in the following series:
This book has been nominated for the following awards:
Garden State Award - Nonfiction
This book was recognised in the Nonfiction category by the Garden State Award.
Christopher Award
This book was recognised by the Christopher Award.
Quill Award - Picture Book
This book was recognised in the Picture Book category by the Quill Award.
PW STARRED
Those who were captivated byOwen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship -about the bond between a baby hippo orphaned by the 2004 tsunami and an adult tortoise living in the same Kenyan sanctuary-will find this follow-up equally mesmerizing. Again, Greste's crisp color photographs reveal these inseparable animal companions at remarkably close range. A standout sequence of nine frames allows readers to observe one of the unique ways the pair communicates: the now two-year-old Owen, signaling Mzee to move to the left, nudges the 130-year-old turtle's left rear foot. The two also communicate in their own "language," a deep rumbling sound that is not intuitive to either species. The authors (a youngster, her father and the manager of the Kenyan park) do raise questions about how the friendship will progress, as Owen grows to his adult size of 7,000 pounds, and his caretakers worry that he could unintentionally harm Mzee. Nonetheless, readers of all ages will likely concur with the authors' observation: "No matter how things turn out, the story of their friendship will always remind the world that when you need a friend, one will be there for you." Youngsters will eagerly await the next chapter in this extraordinary companionship. Ages 4-8.(Jan.)
Kirkus
In 2005, this father-daughter team, with the ecologist and the photographer, chronicled the
irresistible story of the baby hippopotamus, orphaned by the December 2004 tsunami, which
imprinted on the more-than-a-century-old Aldabra tortoise in a nature preserve in Kenya. Owen and
Mzee's story continues, with unexpected communication and devotion between the animals and the
unexpected difficulties (Owen acts much more like a tortoise than a hippo). The photographs continue
to be quite wonderful, and it is hard not to agree with the astonishment in the text: These animals
communicate, play, eat and live together, though they are utterly dissimilar in every way. Their story
is recapitulated in this volume, so even if they don't own the first, eager young readers can catch right
up and be mesmerized, mystified and charmed. (natural history, maps, notes) (Picture book. 5-10)
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