Anna & Samia: The True Story of Saving a Black Rhino

by Paul Meisel

Overview

From Geisel Honor–winning author/illustrator Paul Meisel comes Anna&Samia, the true story of a wildlife conservationist and the baby rhinoceros she adopts.

When infant rhino Samia finds herself all alone in the vast Kenyan rhino sanctuary, conservationist Anna Merz knows just what to do. Little by little, she helps Samia feel warm and at home, snuggling with the black rhino in her bed, deciphering every snort and eek, and giving Samia baths to keep her clean.

Each step Anna takes is meant to help Samia get closer to becoming independent. But the bond between Samia and Anna is so strong that Samia may not want to leave, even when she's ready. Can Samia learn to explore the sanctuary on her own?

Here is a heartfelt true story about love, growing up, and letting go.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250760289
Publisher:	Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	55 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Paul Meisel is the author and illustrator of I See a Cat (2017) and See Me Run (2012), both Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Books. He has illustrated more than 70 books from early readers to picture books, including How to Talk Cat by Jean Craighead George. Paul has also illustrated for the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Harvard Business Review, and a number of other publications. He lives in Connecticut.

Editorial Reviews

A National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book!
A Junior Library Guild Selection!
Iowa Goldfinch Award!

"Meisel’s endearing illustrations of the human/animal relationship rely on curving smiles, kind glances, and a landscape of tawny grasses and green leaves where both Anna and Samia are clearly at home. The book also benefits from biographical back matter and information about the types of rhino species alive, yet endangered, today." —Booklist

"Meisel’s art clearly transmits human and rhino personalities, and beautifully portrays the vast Kenyan environments with depth and layering of rocks, plants, and animals in the complex landscapes." —Horn Book

From the Publisher

2019-08-12
This biographical picture book about Anna Merz, the head of the Lewa Wildlife Conservatory in Kenya, describes the bond that developed between her and a baby rhino.

When Anna observes an abandoned baby rhino, she brings it into her home, nursing the growing calf from a bottle and even bringing the animal into her own bed. Naming the calf Samia, Anna begins learning how to communicate with her and teaching her what she would need to know to survive in the wild. She even notices personality traits: Samia is smart and helpful and can be quite silly at times. Meisel's illustrations explore the bond visually, depicting the growing affection between woman and rhino and the inevitable funny moments a rhino in the home can generate. The interactions between Anna and Samia are charming, but the very occasional inclusion of silent, unnamed, brown-skinned Kenyan men in the illustrations raises uncomfortable questions. The role of the black men in this story set in Kenya is not clear. Are they servants? Are they guides? For the purposes of this story, they are unimportant, existing as background like the many animals speckled throughout the book. The backmatter is similarly unbalanced, giving one paragraph to the conservancy's work with its Kenyan neighbors and much more information on Merz and rhinos.

Fans of Jane Goodall's work will appreciate this title that documents a little-known story. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews