Kangaroo Care: The Best You Can Do to Help Your Preterm Infant

Book Description

From an internationally-known expert in child health, here is a dramatically new approach to caring for premature babies--and a wonderful new role for parents. Filled with information about the special needs of fragile newborns and illustrated with step-by-step photos.

Customer Reviews:

Kangaroo care is five stars.......2006-07-09

Kangaroo care is an excellent book for people with preemee's. It takes you through all the aspects of what is happening during the first few days or months of your young ones life. Nothing is left to the imagination.

Thoroughly covers its topic.......2006-07-08

Upon reading this book, one finds that it's very clear the author is extremely supportive of the use of Kangaroo Care to cure just about whatever may ail your premature baby. Despite the repetitiveness of this, the book is chock-full of just about everything you'd need to know about Kangaroo Care.

I also found it was quite informative in the realm of not only the care of preemies (and their signs of distress/contentment), but of full-term infants as well. So, if you're wondering how best to help your small and/or sick baby in the NICU, or are wondering just what benefits the act of such skin-to-skin contact can bring to both you and your full-term newborn, the book is a very good--and helpful--read.

Great book.......2006-06-30

I bought this book while expecting our daughter, who we know will have to spend a fair amount of time in the NICU. I had never heard of the concept before, and after reading the book, am convinced that it is a wonderful concept and I can't wait to try it!

Beyond proven!.......2004-09-04

I discovered this book in January, 1995, when it was very little known. My son was born 8 weeks premature in a Honolulu, hospital that had never heard of Kangaroo Care. He was transferred to NICU at a military hospital after 11 days so I never did the KC there, but I did pass my book on to my son's neonatologist in hopes that this would be available for future parents/premies. I did KC as often as I was able at the military hospital and my son came off all meds and monitors 3 wks after his early birth. All he had to do was gain weight. He come home a mere 4 weeks after his birth, and 4 weeks before he original due date! I continued to Kangaroo him at home, all day long some days and he gained so fast it was miraculous!
Two and a half years later I gave birth to a full term daughter but used KC again because, "it couldn't hurt" and we never suffered those backwards hours that newborns have and I bounced back faster after this birth because I was resting more. Kangaroo Care is worth buying, in fact buy two so you will still have one when you pass one on!! :-)

For more than premies.......2003-03-13

Our full-term (37wk) son was in the NICU due to a birth defect. This method was explained to us as we started to be able to hold him and I was trying to teach him to nurse. All I can say is IT WORKS. He was able to go home at 6 wks when we were told he would probably be in for than 3 mos. min. When you think about it it makes sense...this baby was inside you and close to you for however many months you carried him/her. Don't you think dropping the child in a "box" with no human contact would be a shock to the system? I think that "normal" babies could probably benefit from this too. Lord willing, I'll get a chance to prove my theory. :-)

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea (Scientists in the Field Series)

Average customer rating:

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo--Its not just for kids!
beautiful book, fascinating creature!

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo: An Expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea (Scientists in the Field Series)
Sy Montgomery
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0618496416

Book Description

It looks like a bear, but isn’t one. It climbs trees as easily as a monkey— but isn’t a monkey, either. It has a belly pocket like a kangaroo, but what’s a kangaroo doing up a tree? Meet the amazing Matschie’s tree kangaroo, who makes its home in the ancient trees of Papua New Guinea’s cloud forest. And meet the amazing scientists who track these elusive animals.

Customer Reviews:

Quest for the Tree Kangaroo--Its not just for kids!.......2007-06-15

I received this book from a thoughtful, loving, and dear kindred spirit of a friend and while it is being marketed as a children's book, I found that it was just as wonderful as an animal lover's or even a conservationists' (organic-free trade-decaffeinated) coffee table book. Nic Bishop's up close and personal photography is beyond any Life Magazine or National Geo quality color photos. Sy Montgomery's writing takes the reader along on the expedition with all the science, language and even a bit of humor provided in part by the guides. Montgomery has created a fun book for kids and adults alike! A great gift for high school graduates to inspire them to follow their dreams and passions. For kid's, this would make a cake science report book!

beautiful book, fascinating creature!.......2007-04-13

the photos are great, i just wish there were more. i am not very interested in the human beings that performed the research, and wish there was more about the animals...

Average customer rating:

John Lothgow Rules
MY FAVORITE OF ALL THE LITHGOW BOOKS
Amazing book!
Wonderful John Lithgow work
Fun

Marsupial Sue Book and CD
John Lithgow
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689843941

Amazon.com

Being a kangaroo certainly looks like a lot of fun, what with all the hopping and the hay eating. But who knew all that jumping around could cause such problems? Marsupial Sue, that's who, a smartly dressed young 'roo who can't abide by all the bouncing: "It rattled her brain. It gave her migraine. A backache, sideache, tummyache too."

So John Lithgow recounts in 4/4 time--along with the jaunty, waltzy music and score on the CD that's included--in his second foray into children's books (The Remarkable Farkle McBride being the first). Probably best known as Dick Solomon on TV's 3rd Rock from the Sun, Lithgow brings his comic knack to this Down Under story about the importance of being yourself. Marsupial Sue might be intrigued by the idea of being a climbing koala or prawn-slurping platypus, but with Lithgow's cooing reassurance as the narrator, she eventually comes around: "Be happy with who you are. / Don't ever stray too far from you. / Get rid of that frown / And waltz up and down / beneath a marsupial star. / If you're a kangaroo through and through, / Just do what kangaroos do."

Lithgow will likely never surpass the spiritual contributions he made to our world as Doctor Emilio Lizardo and John Whorfin, but don't hold that against him. Like Farkle, Marsupial Sue is surely worth a read (and a listen), especially with illustrator Jack E. Davis's cool cast of sunglass- and snappy-hat-wearing Aussie animals. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

Book Description

If you're a Kangaroo
through and through,
Just do what Kangaroos do.

Young Sue really doesn't like being a kangaroo, so she goes off to find something better. First she tries climbing the trees like a koala, but that doesn't work. Then she wades into the sea like a platypus, but that's no good either. Finally, Sue joins up with some bouncy, jouncy wallabies...and discovers that being a kangaroo isn't so bad, after all.

Using a jaunty waltz rhythm, actor, comedian, and best-selling author John Lithgow reassures children that they can be happy with who they are.

For listening or singing along, a CD of a John Lithgow performance of Marsupial Sue and an instrumental version is included with this book, as is the score of the song.

Customer Reviews:

John Lothgow Rules.......2007-09-24

Marsupial Sue is a great song/book for kids. The message of being you is important, and the song sticks with the kids. Having the CD to hear John Lithgow narrate is a must to do this book justice.

MY FAVORITE OF ALL THE LITHGOW BOOKS.......2007-08-12

My granddaughter introduced me to this book...and it has become my favorite piece of children's literature! I try to give it as a gift to as many children as possible. Perfect for the three year old....and great music for moms to listen to over and over and over...THE GREATEST!

Amazing book!.......2007-06-11

John does it again! My 3-4 year old preschoolers LOVE this book! I love this book. I find myself actually singin along with the book and the kids absolutely love it. One of the best books I have bought them! (and his other ones too!)

Wonderful John Lithgow work.......2007-05-30

I LOVE this book and CD. I have been privileged to use it in my car when having play day with some of the local children aged 2-4. The CD is a big hit! Mr. Lithgow sings this song with the most wonderful exuberance which catches and holds the attention of young and old alike. I find myself singing along! What a wonderful work.

Fun.......2007-05-25

I like the way John doesn't baby-talk to his readers & their kids. He just seems to assume that at some point the kids will find out the meanings of unfamiliar words. Vocabulary building can be fun.

Average customer rating:

Mother and Son favorites
Love It!!!
Wonderful
Wonderful children's book!
A Sweet Mother and Child Story for Parents and Children to Enjoy Together

I Love It When You Smile
Sam Mcbratney
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Picture Books | Ages 4-8 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0060842458
Release Date: 2006-03-14

Book Description

When Little Roo wakes up, he just feels grumpy. His mother tries everything she can to make him feel better, but nothing she does makes any difference. So how will a deep, wide, and muddy-at-the-bottom hole make Little Roo smile?

From the bestselling author of Guess How Much I Love You comes a story that will guarantee a smile and a laugh from even the grumpiest reader.

Customer Reviews:

Mother and Son favorites.......2007-08-06

We discovered this book at the library. We love the story line and have added this book to our home collection. The story ending is sure to bring laughter to every child.

Love It!!!.......2007-05-09

Fast becoming my nephews favourite book the illustrations are typically great by Charles Fuge, little Roo looks funny with a grumpy face.

Only complaint is the background looks more like an English garden than the Australian bush.

Wonderful.......2007-02-16

My daughter has loved this book from the moment we brought it home! My husband and I love to read it to her. It has such personlity written into each page and the illustrations are beautifully done. McBratney and Fuge are a terrrrrific combo for children's books. I even went back online to find more books written and illustrated by the two because we love this one so much.

Wonderful children's book!.......2006-06-27

My son got this for his second birthday and we love it. It's such a sweet story and the illustrations are great! It's not really long which is great for us becuase we have trouble getting him to sit still for very long, but it's also not too short either. Get this book for your toddler!

A Sweet Mother and Child Story for Parents and Children to Enjoy Together.......2006-05-23

Oh no! Little Roo the kangaroo is feeling grumpy.

He doesn't know why. He just is.

He's so grumpy, he doesn't even feel like playing. Now that's grumpy!

His mother is determined to change all that. She wants him to smile and says he'll feel better when he does.

She tickles him. No luck. She flips him over her head. No luck. She throws leaves on him. No luck.

Nothing she tries is working. Little Roo won't budge a smile.

Not until his mother slips him in her pouch and hops, hops, hops and then slips, slips, slips into a muddy hole does Roo do the unthinkable. He actually cracks a grin.

I Love It When You Smile is a sweet mother and child story for parents to enjoy with their children. The book is aimed at children ages 2-6 and will dazzle young children and even adults with its illustrations.

Average customer rating:

Simply one of the most charming books I've ever read...
On the Kumon North America required reading list...
What do you do with a Kangaroo?
Great story!
great condition and my grandkids will love it as their mother did

What Do You Do With A Kangaroo?

Manufacturer: Scholastic Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0590448501

Customer Reviews:

Simply one of the most charming books I've ever read..........2007-08-04

I've owned this book for twenty years. I was a small child when I first got it as a present, and forced my parents to read it to me again and again and again. Now that I am an acting and storytelling teacher for young children, I was looking through old books to use in my class. I came across this one, read through it again, and was won over all over again. Whether you are a young child, a parent of a young child or a teacher of young children (or perhaps just young at heart) you will no doubt have a wonderful time reading this book. (And, even if you're all alone, I suggest reading it out loud.)

On the Kumon North America required reading list..........2007-04-24

This book is on the Kumon required reading list. Wonderful illustrations, amusing, and easy to read. You and your child will laugh.

What do you do with a Kangaroo?.......2006-12-21

What to do? Great introduction to problem solving and the silliness of animals. A joy to read using your best animal voice!

Great story!.......2006-03-08

This was the longest book my two-year-old would sit through... again and again and again. She loved acting the part of the little heroine and readily recited "you throw him out!" with much enthusiasm. The drawings are entertaining and the end is lovely. I would whole-heartedly recommend this darling story.

great condition and my grandkids will love it as their mother did.......2005-09-15

THANK YOU- JC

Average customer rating:

Loveable and Fun Characters
Blue Kangaroo gets taken for granted
Adorable!!
Hands down favorite of my almost three year old for months
Lily, Don't You Love Me Anymore?

I Love You, Blue Kangaroo!

Manufacturer: Dragonfly Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440415497
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Book Description

A heartwarming, comforting tale of sibling rivalry, loyalty, and lasting love.

Blue Kangaroo belongs to Lily, and Lily loves him. Every night he falls asleep in her arms. Then one day, Lily's aunt comes to visit, and she brings Lily a huggable, furry gift. Suddenly Blue Kangaroo finds himself sleeping next to Wild Brown Bear. And soon Lily receives other animals: a yellow cotton rabbit, a wiggly green crocodile, a long-eared owl. . . . The bed is getting awfully crowded, and Blue Kangaroo isn't sleeping well at all! With so many companions, would Lily even notice if Blue Kangaroo were gone?

Customer Reviews:

Loveable and Fun Characters.......2004-05-27

The Blue Kangaroo series of books are a huge favorite with my two year old. The stories are emotionally relatable for her age. Toddlers can also sympathize with Lily and her favorite stuffed friend, Blue Kangaroo. The pictures give parents additional details to expand on the story. I highly recommend all of the Blue Kangaroo books, starting with this one.

Blue Kangaroo gets taken for granted.......2003-01-02

Lily loves Blue Kangaroo, and tells him so every night as she goes to bed. But over a period of time Lily receives more stuffed animals and Blue Kangaroo feels more and more neglected, until one night he gets bumped out of bed and decides to go sleep with Lily's little brother. Lily's response lets Blue Kangaroo know he is first in her heart.

Bright, colorful and humorous watercolor illustrations add to the enjoyment.

Adorable!!.......2002-05-30

This book is great. Adorable story, lovely illustrations. My daughter loves it and she's 4. Especially the part about the little brother who takes the favorite toy (her brother is 2) She comes up with a great solution to get it back. Just a good all-around preschool story book in every way.

Hands down favorite of my almost three year old for months.......2001-07-08

This charming and very true to life story of a displaced favorite toy has been my daughter's favorite for months now, and happily it's very fun to read out loud over and over again. My 7 year old son also enjoys reading it to his little sister. The illustrations are fetching and the tale is a sweet one. I'm about to click away to find more books by Emma Chichester Clark.

Lily, Don't You Love Me Anymore?.......2000-09-25

Good for 3-7 yrs. Very similar story to "Nugget & Darling" by Barbara M. Joosse, it's a 'Dont you love me anymore?' story. The story is interesting for children, it moves along quickly, and the illustrations are very good.

Amazon.com

"Yes! A kangaroo has a mother. Just like me and you." Tremendously popular author/illustrator Eric Carle needs no introduction. Readers wait eagerly for every new picture book--and nobody will be disappointed with this one. In this Very Simple story, an unseen child asks variations on the same question: "Does a lion/monkey/dolphin have a mother, too?" The response is always the same: a big colorful "YES!" with the soothing reassurance that, "like me and you," everyone has a mother. Repetition is the name of the game, here, because nothing comforts like reiteration.

Those on the verge of reading will enjoy the question and answer format, which is clearly designed to be read aloud. A list of the names of animal babies, parents, and groups is included--did you know that a group of bears is called a "sloth"? Or that a group of foxes is a "skulk"? Carle's trademark collages are as colorful and luminous as those found in any of his other well-loved modern classics (including The Very Hungry Caterpillar and The Very Quiet Cricket); as usual, the illustrations are so good they're worthy of framing. (Ages 2 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

Of course they do -- just like me and you! From baby kangaroos, called joeys, to baby elephants, called calfs, every kind of animal has a mother. Inside this playful and colorful book you will see all sorts of different babies with their mothers, all with one thing in common: Their mothers love them very, very much -- just like your mother loves you! Come right in and meet the family -- the animal family, that is -- in words and pictures by Eric Carle.

Customer Reviews:

Yes!.......2006-11-19

I like this book beacuse it gives my 2 year-old son lots of practice saying, "yes" instead of his usual "no." AFter we read the book, we use the pattern established in the story to ask each other about other animals not featured in the book. For example, "does a cat have a mother too?" "Yes!"

My one year old loves it.......2005-09-04

This was the very first book I read to my son after he was born. I got it as a gift in the hospital. Ever since then he seeks this book out for me to read to him. Its the only book he will sit all the way through. He loves the pictures. Yes, its very repetive, but thats the whole point of the book. Its great right before bed or right after a nap, because its so soothing.

Sweet, dull, but gramatically CORRECT.......2005-06-23

I agree with recent reviewers who have recommended other animal-based Eric Carle books instead of this one. The verse is repetitive, which makes it easier for my son to learn early word recognition, and the theme is rather sweet, but other Eric Carle books ("Slowly, slowly, slowly said the Sloth" and "Mister Seahorse") are far superior.

I'd also like to respond to the reviewer who stated this book is gramatically incorrect. That's actually not true. The word "like" in "just LIKE you and me" is used as a preposition to convey relatedness of one thing to another. Since it's used as a preposition, the pronouns ("you" and "me" or "I") that follow must be objective (as in OBJECT of the preposition) case rather than subjective case. "You" is both a subjective and objective case pronoun. "I" is a subjective case pronoun, while "me" is an objective case pronoun. Therefore, "me" is the appropriate choice and "just like you and me" is gramatically correct.

Why the grammar lesson? One of the things I love about Eric Carle books is that the grammar is always correct. Any child who reads his books benefits from the colorful collage paintings, playful verse, AND exposure to correct grammar. All are essential for successful early reading.

we love this book!.......2003-09-03

Our daughter just turned 3 and she loves this book. We found a copy of this book at the library, brought it home and she loved it. This book encourages her to use her words. She even reads it to herself in her own little language. We are defenitely ordering this book today. It is also a great book for storytime (daycare setting). Other books that are winners in our home are "From Head to Toe", "Panda Bear, Panda Bear what do you see?","Polar Bear,Polar Bear what do you hear?", "Brown Bear, Brown Bear what do you see?", "Dream Snow", "The very busy spider". What we love about these books is the way the pictures are done, words, and all the animals in them. They are put together so well for children.

Poor grammar.......2003-06-26

Though I love the concept behind the book, there is a grammatical error on every page. The correct language should be "just like you and I" (have a mother). The way every page is written implies the "you and me" are mothers.
I show my son the pictures, and describe the story in my own words, but definitely do not read this one aloud.

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo (Yearling Book)

Average customer rating:

Not Bad!!!
Touching title...Loving story
JUDY BLUME DOES IT AGAIN
Reviews from sever-year-olds
The green kangroo is a good book.

The One in the Middle Is the Green Kangaroo (Yearling Book)
Judy Blume
Manufacturer: Yearling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0440467314
Release Date: 1982-07-15

Book Description

Lately second grader Freddy Dissel has that left-out kind of feeling. Life can be lonely when you're the middle kid in the family who feels like "the peanut butter part of a sandwich," squeezed between an older brother and little sister. But now for the first time it's Freddy's chance to show everyone how special he is and, most of all, prove it to himself!

Customer Reviews:

Not Bad!!!.......2002-04-12

I think this book as ok it was all about this boy being in the middle and he hates it so he trys to fit in a play can you belive this.But it was not that bad.(funny too)

Touching title...Loving story.......2002-01-14

There are books to thrill you, and there are the books that warm you throughout your life. This is one of them.
Judy Blume has a broad stroke, writing for ages from elementary to Adult life. And with each book, she captures all the humiliation and comedy that those years offer. Though I was "too big" for this book when I read it, I don't regret doing so. Though I am not a middle child, I understand how it feels when, as a child, you feel that you don't matter, at that stage "not-old-enough-and-so-not-important-enough". Having read a wide scale of Blume throughout childhood, I know which books touched me, made me angry, and made me shout: "Hoooray!"
Judy Blume puts as much feeling into her books' titles as she does into her stories, and so even the most disaffected can only become interested because of her colorful titles. This is one of my favorite Judy Blume stories, and my favorite title by her. There are stories to challenge, books to think, fables that make you laugh out loud and novels to make you weep.
And there is "The One in the Middle is the Green Kangeroo". Even if you have not heard of Judy Blume or haven't read one of her titles, I won't hold it against you. It is a short life and we can't read them all, but doesn't the title sound curious enough for you to give this book a try?

JUDY BLUME DOES IT AGAIN.......2001-11-01

This is a GREAT book for the family. Our children loved this book. It is easy for them to read and undestand. It is full of laughter and fun.
I read Judy Blume as a child and am SOOO HAPPY that my children also get to experience her work.

Reviews from sever-year-olds.......2000-05-19

The following reviews were written by four 7-year-olds in a classroom book club I led. We studied reviews from Amazon.com before they wrote theirs to see how there can be many different opinions on one title:

Annie says: I would recommend this book to you because it is neat how Freddy Dissel started out having nothing special and ended up doing something all of his own. He gets to be the green kangaroo in a school play.

Ashleigh says: I think this book is funny because my 4-year-old brother is the middle child and me and my sister boss him around like Freddy. I think everyone should have this book!

David says: This book is about a boy named Freddy who plays the green kangaroo in the school play. I think it is stupid because he hops all around saying, "I'm the Green Kangaroo." I would not recommend a friend read this book because it is stupid.

Rachel says: I think this book is funny because when Freddy's teacher, Ms. Gumber, told him "break a leg" he thought he should really fall off the stage and break a leg. I would recommend this book to you because it is neat and I think it is neat because the illustrator really expressed what the words described.

The green kangroo is a good book........1999-05-22

I really enjoyed The one in the middle is the green kangroo. It had comedy, fussing, and problems. The main chacters is Freddy Dissel and his brother Michel and his sister Ellen. Freddy didn't like being small beacuse he did not like being out of the fun. One day at school there was a poster in the hall that said MEETING FOR SCHOOL PLAY Fifth AND SIX GRADERS ONLY. He went to class and told his teacher he wont's to be in the play but his teacher told him that it was only for the big kids.But she told him that she would ask Ms. Matson about a special part for him. If you want to hear the ending of the story read the book.

Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds

Average customer rating:

Interesting story - biological and anthropological
Amazing scientist, unexceptional writer.
Breathtaking, humorous and poignant
Exciting and sometimes hilarous natural history book
Heights of discovery

Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds
Tim Flannery
Manufacturer: Grove Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Australia | Australia & Oceania | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0802136656

Amazon.com

In Throwim Way Leg, Australia-based mammologist-raconteur Tim Flannery recalls scientific expeditions in the wilds of New Guinea that convey both the thrill of discovery and the negotiations necessary to bridge huge clashes of cultures. A world expert on New Guinea's fauna, Flannery has discovered 20 new species during his two decades of research. Yet his ability to convey unalloyed adventure in his taletelling makes these scientific expeditions read more like hair-raising, funky Redmond O'Hanlon-style travels than disciplined, scholarly field trips. Energy and danger run high.

Terrific thunderstorms and aircraft mishaps rattle Flannery during his travels. Yet the most memorable quality of Throwim Way Leg is Flannery's incorporation of humans into the natural world he writes about, often contrasting the jungled New Guinea denizens with stark modern technologies. He writes rich profiles of those he has met, and his images are memorable and meaningful: crowds of people gaping at a single television set; the remote landscape of Mt. Albert Edward dotted with cattle, Swiss chalets, and the smoky fires of the Goilala people; the malnourished Yapsiei greeting him reeking of the "sweet, sickly smell" of grile, a form of ringworm.

Ultimately, Flannery looks ahead and sees that the age of discovery is not at all complete in New Guinea, as so much remains unknown. But, in an often-told tale, modern political forces are at work, reshaping those unique natural and cultural environments that Throwim Way Leg explores with such vigor. --Byron Ricks

Book Description

Flannery travels to the unexplored regions of New Guinea in search of species that science has yet to discover or classify. He finds many -- from a community of giant cave bats that were supposedly extinct to the elusive black-and-white tree-kangaroo -- and along the way has a wealth of unforgettable adventures. Flannery scales cliffs, descends into caverns, and cheats death, both from disease and at the hands of the local cannibals, who wish to take revenge on his "clan" of wildlife scientists. He eventually befriends the tribespeople, who become companions in his quest and whose contributions to his research prove invaluable. In New Guinea pidgin, throwim way leg means to take the first step of a long journey. The journey in this book is a wild ride full of natural wonders and Flannery's trademark wit, a tour de force of travelogue, anthropology, and natural history.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting story - biological and anthropological.......2006-08-20

Flannery is the Principal Research Scientist at the Australian Museum. This book recounts several of his expeditions in Papua New Guinea and Irian Jaya in the 80s and 90s.

He's the opposite to Douglas Adams. In approaching some similar topics in his `Last Chance to See' Adams was primarily a writer. Flannery is primarily a biologist - the writing came second. Thus there's not the wit, and the style is often understated. In some cases this is quite charming as he pretty casually relates some harrowing incidents (such as getting stuck alone in an underground crevice). In contrast his vocabulary can get a bit ostentatious: he'll use always use a word like `ossuary', for example, rather than graveyard, and in one case he used a word I've forgotten now that from the context must mean something like overeating, but didn't even appear in my complete Macquarie dictionary. (Ah, another amazon reviewer had the same problem, although they were impressed by the obscure vocabulary, while I was unimpressed by same: 'farcarted' gets nothing from any online dictionaries - the only place it turns up in a google search is in these perplexed amazon reviews. Maybe it's an in-joke.)

These are exotic places and creatures, and Flannery capably recalls some real adventures. Part of the strange appeal of this book is shaking your head at some of the near-insane deprivations and risks his biological obsession has entailed (hence the insightful description of another reviewer, `bloody mad scientist'). Moreover half the fascination is anthropological. He generally does very well walking the line between eulogising and demonising the tribal Papuans. He ably conveys some of the dilemmas of contact between ancient and modern, such as the time when in all good faith he acceded to requests to sharpen all the knives in a village, but then was appalled to see several villagers accidentally cutting themselves deeply because they'd never had anything but blunt edges. He does tend towards the assumption that any loss of traditional culture is automatically bad, but honestly allows us to see some ugly things that challenge this assumption.

Towards the end of the book, as much to his chagrin as ours, we're not able to merely enjoy the excitement of discovery of species because of the context of ugly mistreatment of Irian nationals by their Indonesian conquerors. I got the feel that none of us wanted this to be a `political' book, particularly not a partisan one, but in telling his story it becomes unavoidable. Flannery again to his credit is very careful not to say `all Indonesians', or `all the mining company workers', but sadly his biological expeditions are somewhat overrun just at the end by encounters with some brutal racism, at times incidental, at others structural.

Amazing scientist, unexceptional writer........2006-05-16

Without a doubt Tim Flannery ranks with the world's greatest scientist/explorers. He has a wealth of fascinating and valuable tales to tell from his travels to New Guinea. However, the book has little coherent structure. It's just a series of (mostly) unrelated stories, like he might recount over dinner. The details of his trips are incredible, but by the time I was half way through, I began losing my interest and felt I was re-reading previous passages.

Breathtaking, humorous and poignant.......2004-09-09

Flannery is one of a kind. He is to New Guinea what Perry and Amundson are to the poles, a first-comer .... one of the first to explore and document the stone age peoples of the mysterious island wilderness in the last days of its age of innocence.

Yes, there are cannibals, with bones in their noses and gourds worn on their penis, yet Flannery somehow manages to get the reader to empathize with these people, to understand their foibles and traditions, and to feel regret that their ancient ways are going, going, gone ... forever. Take the chapter where he goes in pursuit of the Bulmer's Fruit Fly Bat -- you suffer with him the agonies of failure and the desperations of the search, and the exhilaration of success. Or follow along with his learning experiences among the native tribes and come to actually understand the hows and whys of the way the led their lives, even to discovering there were (to the natives) valid reasons for their rare acts of cannibalism.

Although he describes some of the most spectacular natural wonders of the world, the reader comes to know that Papua New Guinea will never rate very highly as a tourist destination, but you'll have to read this book to appreciate the reasons why.

Think you couldn't possibly be interested in such things? Try twenty pages of this charming book; the images will lived in your memory forever.

Hooroo, Tim! Bonzer yarn, mate!

Exciting and sometimes hilarous natural history book.......2003-05-26

I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful book! In it, mammalogist Tim Flannery regales us with tales from his many years in New Guinea, searching for new species of mammals on the island, the second largest in the world. A difficult island to work in - highly mountainous; extremely few roads, most villages so isolated that they can only be reached by small planes flying to landing strips hacked out of the jungle; parts of it some of the rainiest spots on earth, some areas receiving 11 meters or more of rain a year; possessing many dangerous animals ranging from crocodiles to snakes to huge spiders; tropical diseases and parasites a real problem in many areas (including malaria and scrub typhus, from which Flannery almost died from when bit by an infected tick) ý Flannery had his work cut out for them as he spent over two decades on the island, both in the eastern half, the independent nation of Papua New Guinea, and the western section, Irian Jaya, part of Indonesia.

Flannery is a highly accomplished scientist, having discovered 16 new species of mammals in Melanesia, many of them in New Guinea. Many of these and others are described in the book, and make for fascinating reading. We meet the Black-tailed Giant-rat, the bite from its two centimeter long razor sharp incisors much feared by the inhabitants of the island. The Three-striped Dasyure, a vividly marked rat-sized marsupial predator, one of New Guinea's few mammals active during daylight hours. The Snow Mountains Robin, one of the rarest birds in the world, found in the high alpine regions of the Meren Glacier in Irian Jaya, one of the very few equatorial glaciers in the world. _Antechinus, a small carnivorous marsupial notable in that the male only lives for 11 months, existing only to breed. The diminutive, dingo-like New Guinea singing dog, which arrived in the islands some 2,000 years ago. The six o'clock cicada, a tremendously loud insect that received its name from its trill it emits roughly 6am and 6pm daily. The famous Birds of Paradise, breathtaking in their beauty, several species of which are extremely rare. He also describes the Long-fingered Triok, a black and white skunk smelling possum with the fourth finger of each hand a great elongated probe for finding insect larvae; you never know what he is going to find next lurking in the barely explored misty peaks and dripping jungles of the island.

Three of the most remarkable animals are ones that Flannery discovered or in one case rediscovered. One is _Maokopia ronaldi_, an extinct marsupial herbivore that once dwelt in the high mountain forests. Panda-like in appearance, size, and probably habits, Flannery named this new genus and species from fossils he found in Irian Jaya. Bulmer's Fruit-bat, a bat though extinct for 12,000 years, the largest cave dwelling bat in the world, Flannery was elated to have found them alive in extremely rugged western Papua New Guinea. The one though that Flannery is the most proud of discovering was the Dingiso, a new species of tree-kangaroo he found in the alpine areas of Irian Jaya, a beautiful black and white animal, surprising tame, threatened but fortunately partially protected by native taboos against harming them.

However, as remarkable as all of that is, one could argue that the real stars of this book are the people of New Guinea, particularly the indigenous Melanesian peoples that Flannery spends a great deal of time with and clearly loves. Much of his time researching in the field he was based out of the villages of such people as the Wopkaimin, the Telefol, and the Goilala where he became fast friends with many throughout the island, in both countries, viewing them not as savage barbarians, but as noble, often quite kind people, their older generation vast repositories of cultural and natural history lore. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the books were the many stories about life in those villages, some of the tales tragic, others heartwarming, and many hilarious.

Particularly fascinating was what he wrote about the history of cannibalism on the island. Apparently it did exist in the not too distant past, actually in the living memory of some of the villagers he encountered. Though not an every day occurrence by any means, cannibalism was an important part of New Guinea life; indeed, one group Flannery spent some time with, the Miyanmin, were once avid raiders, and actually referred to the neighboring Atbalmin people as ýbokis es bilong miplea,ý which more or less translates into something like ýour refrigerator.ý Though cannibalism is now a thing of the past, its effects are still felt he writes, as villages once got some of their population from raids of other villages, the adults of that village were consumed and the children raised as their own; now, that is no longer a source of new people for villages and some are facing some depopulation as a result.

Flannery sounds several cautionary notes in his book. Several species of New Guinea mammals and birds are in serious danger of extinction from over hunting. Though New Guinea is still a land largely without roads, more and more appear all the time, opening up virgin lands for hunters, loggers, and miners. Indeed in Irian Jaya the latter two are devastating ever larger sections of the island; the massive Freeport mine, which exports over ten million dollars worth of minerals daily, has destroyed large sections of forest with waste mine tailings.

He also worries about the future of the people, particularly in Irian Jaya. He believes that in an attempt to make that land more like the rest of Indonesia it is causing not only environmental damage but also cultural damage. Indeed there are concerns over human rights abuses in Irian Jaya, of dissidents disappearing, of remote villagers forced to wear modern clothing and abandon their pig eating culture by distant Muslim politicians, who often find native culture abhorrent.

Recommended.

Heights of discovery.......2002-06-12

If Tim Flannery isn't the luckiest biologist in the world, then perhaps he's the hardest working. He possesses a spirit of adventure that may exceed both. His twenty years of exploring the mysteries of New Guinea are superbly outlined and related in this engaging account. Although a mammalogist by profession, his interests range far beyond any academic discipline. We follow his efforts to meet and gain acceptance by the remote peoples of the New Guinea highlands. They are a diverse lot, and every new contact is fraught with uncertainty. He introduces us to the teasing pleasures of New Guinea pidgin, a language adopted by indigineous peoples to cross the nearly 1 000 languages that exist on the island.

Throwim' Away Leg, New Guinean pidgin for a journey, is an appropriate title for this book. Flannery's 15 long-term expeditions took him over most of the island, meeting the people, tracking animals and assessing the changes in the ecology. It is difficult, in this jet travel age to comprehend the impact of "remote people," but Flannery has done it. He's adept at sharing the wonder he felt in his travels. We feel his fears, his joys of discovery, his sadness at the incursion of industrial civilization in an unprepared land. Flannery's account is given with an astonishing detachment. He recognizes the needs of both the indigenous people and the invaders. Cannibalism, so abhorrent to "civilized" readers, is placed in its true framework as viewed by the New Guinean mountain peoples. He's aware of the population pressures on local resources among the tribes, not excusing, but imparting rare understanding of the reality of life in wilderness.

The author's love of wildlife is made clear throughout the book. An encounter with three-metre-long python that tried desperately to throttle him is related with incredible compassion. One can only sympathize with the pilot and passengers who shared the cockpit of a small aircraft with it on its journey to Port Moresby. Flannery's real feelings, however, are for the varieties of tree kangaroos living on the island. He asserts the high point of his travels was the classification of a rare black and white species of this creature. High point, indeed! Three
thousand metres up in the New Guinean highlands, local hunters brought him the chewed remains of two "Dingisios" - enough to identify and describe this rare animal.

Flannery's enthusiasms and vivid desriptive powers make this book an unforgettable read. His descriptions of the impact of outsiders, from both East and West, portray a land under immense stress. Not only Western mining and lumber companies, who have seared the landscape with roads, mines and felling, but Indonesia's settlement programmes come under his penetrating gaze. He recognizes their needs, but urges better forms of accomodation are required. The biological story is conveyed well integrated with social, political and environmental issues. An all-encompassing study, this book will give the reader many fresh insights and topics for further reflection.

Average customer rating:

great book on Australian natural history

Australia's nature vividly described

A terrific read!

Riding With the Kanze's

Great read!!

Kangaroo Dreaming: An Australian Wildlife Odyssey
Edward Kanze
Manufacturer: Sierra Club and Calendars
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0609607960
Release Date: 2000-09-05

Amazon.com

A few miles into the scorched, dusty interior of Australia along the Stuart Highway, naturalist Edward Kanze began counting carcasses. "Kangaroos stare blindly into headlights," he writes, "and the big rigs, drunk on momentum, smash them mile after bloody mile." Kanze, on what he compares at great length to Homer's Odyssey, treks around Australia in a 1980 Toyota Corolla with his wife, packing along a library of natural-history books and a predilection for avian, reptilian, and mammalian mating habits. The author of The World of John Burroughs, as well as of a nature guide to New Zealand, he visits every state in Australia in six months, meeting with park rangers, herpetologists, professional birders, and grumpy crocodile-hunter-types on a quest to intimately know the continent's bizarre wildlife.

Kanze's list of finds is immense, with birds as diverse as orange-bellied parrots, the endangered glossy black cockatoo, crimson rosellas, and deadly Cassowaries, which Kanze describes as "an Emu with a stoop, dark, stocky, with a gaudy red necklace of exposed flesh," and that the Park Service warns has trampled several people. But Kanze's adventures are not limited to birdwatching; in fact, his true pursuit is finding the majority of Australia's 40 species of kangaroos. At first they appear in such scant numbers that he marvels at a single spotting. Soon enough though, the 'roos appear in such great abundance that he shifts his focus to the duck-billed platypus outside of Canberra, the mudskippers in the coastal rainforests near Brisbane, the pythons in Lake Barrine, and the "freshies" (freshwater crocodiles) at Edith Falls.

Going beyond the Attenborough-toned walk in the field, Kanze touches on the realities of the Aboriginal plight, the invasion of the European settler, and the desecration of the Australian landscape. He even pays a visit to an asbestos mining town where passers-through are warned not to breathe the particulate-thick air. By the time Kanze and his wife are plenty full of each other, their broken-down Corolla, and the search for the rufous-banded honeyeaters, the pied herons, the hairy-nosed wombats, the white-browed crakes, the pratinoles, the cane toads, the tree kangaroos, the giant lizards, and the flying marsupials, they have sated their list, and the reader, with Australia's remarkable and often-elusive wildlife. --Lolly Merrell

Customer Reviews:

great book on Australian natural history.......2003-12-01

I read this book just after having finished Bill Bryson's travel book on Australia, "In A Sunburned Country," and the contrast could not be more vivid. Bryson focused mainly on the cities, towns, and people of Australia, and I believe he only saw a few kangaroos in his entire sojourn there. Though he did cover some natural history, most of his work was focused on the human history and culture of Australia. Kanze on the other hand on his massive journey around Australia with his wife Debbie spent very little time in cities, trying to avoid urban areas for the most part, and saw a great deal of wildlife, including probably hundreds of kangaroos. In fact, the principal reason they flew to Australia, bought a car, and spent the better part of a year driving around the continent/country (including Tasmania) was to see a bewildering array of plants, animals, and natural landscapes in the "bush."

The author introduces the reader to a many animals, some familiar, many not. We meet a wide variety of kangaroos, including the "big four," the common wallaroo (known as the "euro" in Western Australia), the red kangaroo, the eastern grey, and the western grey, as well as the musky rat-kangaroo, most "primitive" of kangaroos, smaller than a housecat, distinct in that hops on four feet rather than two, carries nest material with its tail, and is the only kangaroo that raises two young at a time rather than the usual one . They encounter the sugar glider, a marsupial that is strikingly similar to the flying squirrel of North America, one that feeds on the excretions of sap-feeing insects and eucalyptus resin, something few marsupials can digest. A wide variety of parrots (the continent possesses fifty-six species) also amazes the Kanzes when they encountered them in virtually any setting, from rain forest to desert to the middle of large cities. They meet koalas several times, a strange animal that Kanze informs us actually for a time grew more common after English settlement, as Aborigine hunting of them declined as their own populations retreated before the Europeans, only to suffer in turn when koalas caught the fancy of London furriers. They run into the ubiquitous termite mounds of Queensland, thousands of which tower over the landscape up to eight feet in height, vital to the local ecology as they serve the function of earthworms, which are unable to survive the monsoonal inundations of the local landscape. Interestingly, we learn that at least some termite species build their mounds with their broad fronts parallel to the earth's magnetic poles, one end pointing to magnetic south, the other magnetic north, with the mounds thus situated to soak up morning and afternoon sunshine but only present a thin edge to the blistering midday sun. They meet the potentially dangerous cassowary, a huge flightless bird able to run thirty miles an hour, jump five feet into the air, and disembowel a man with the slash of a talon. Advised to hide and freeze should they encounter one in the forest, the Kanzes run into an overcurious youngster and its protective parent at one point, a situation that could have ended in disaster. Told that if one froze they might be missed, as their eyesight is poor, a comment that to me brought to mind "Jurassic Park," a thought the author apparently shared. Kanze roots around underwater with a snorkel and mask for the elusive Arafura file snake, not formerly described until 1980, a snake with unusually loose but rough skin that uses to grip slippery fish, a water snake that hunts, sleeps, breeds, and gives birth without leaving the water. Among the many other animals they meet and describe for the reader are the manatee-like dugong, honey possums (the only terrestrial mammal to subsist entirely on pollen and nectar), Tasmanian devils, the hated alien cane toad, a wide variety of native frogs, bowerbirds, bandicoots, platypuses, flying foxes, dingoes, echidnas (also know as spiny anteaters), lyrebirds, sunbirds, and a wide variety of reptiles including sea turtles, pythons, many poisonous snakes, goannas (among the largest lizards alive today, goanna being the Australian name for a monitor lizard, the name probably a corruption of "iguana"), and crocodiles (both freshwater and saltwater varieties).

I learned a lot about Australian wildlife and landscapes and some about Australian history and culture and really enjoyed the book, but do offer a few small complaints. Kanze repeatedly compares his journey throughout Australia to that of Odysseus and his trials that were described in "The Odyssey." While sometimes the comparisons were apt and even mildly humorous, sometimes they seemed a bit forced and even slightly tedious, with occasional asides into Greek mythology that seemed out of place. Second, many times Kanze mentions taking pictures of a variety of animals throughout his journey, yet there is only the cover picture; nowhere are there are photographs in the book. I would have liked to have seen a few pictures at least of landscapes.

Having said that though, this is a very good Australian travel and natural history book, one I would recommend.

Australia's nature vividly described.......2001-05-11

Ed Kanze's Kangaroo Dreaming should provide a healthy counterbalance to "Survivor II" with its kitschy evocation of aboriginal ceremony and the Australian landscape. In the popular show, the only genuine elements were the landscape of the outback itself and the glimpses of wildlife. In Kanze's clear-eyed view of the same landscape, the aborigines, like our Native Americans, displaying the "ugly and all-too-universal result of western mercantile culture mixing with a tribal society." The aborigines encountered near Alice Springs - unsmiling, clutching whiskey bottles - provide one of the human portraits that truly makes Kanze's book stand out among travelogues of natural history. But as always, Kanze's eye for flora and fauna predominates and his descriptive powers are masterful: "Suddenly, bubbles appeared in the water before me. I cocked my camera, switched on the flash, and held my breath. There - there -there - I was struck dumb by my good fortune. A black, rubbery bill wider than a duck's pushed through the surface immediately before me. It was followed by webbed feet, a hairy face with beady black eyes, and a furry brown body about the size of a muskrat's. I fiddled with the camera. The platypus was so close that my lens could not focus." The frame of Kanze's story is a nine-month, 25,000-mile odyssey he and his wife Debbie took around the rim of, and to the center of, Australia. (In fact, the author has used the sections of The Odyssey itself to parallel their journey.) Along the way they meet friendly and helpful nature enthusiasts - as well as characters they'd as soon never see again. For those of us who will visit "the America on the other side of the world" (Melville's phrase) only via the armchair, the Kanzes make irresistible, funny and erudite traveling companions.

A terrific read!.......2001-04-08

For one who has not been to Australia yet, reading about this wildlife journey has been great fun. The author gives his readers a real sense of the joy of discovery and excitement of the search. Along the way, he imparts a great amount of fascinating information about the countryside and the people encountered during their travels.

I highly recommend Kanze's book for armchair travelers who have an interest in wildlife, or those who may be contemplating such an adventure for themselves. The view of Australia, its people, and its wildlife is extraordinary!

Riding With the Kanze's.......2000-10-05

Great armchair rideabout through the land down under! Witty and intelligent, Kanze has a knack for making one feel as if he and his wife were sitting in rockers in your den telling these tales. He is able to balance intelligence and knowledge with humor and candor of his own foibles. I want to go to Australia!

Great read!!.......2000-10-05

It is always a delight to read any of Mr. Kanz's books and this newest offering is just a joy. Travel is always an adventure and to be guided through the space of Australia by Mr. Kanze and his wife is a rare treat. He expertly weaves the natural history with the constant joys and uncertanty of meeting new people. People, places, nature, and new sights are what travel is about and these two have given the reader the chance to share in their wonder and adventure. BRAVO

Be sure to check out his other books. You won't be disappointed.

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