Owen & Mzee: Language Of Friendship - Hardcover

Isabella Hatkoff; Craig Hatkoff And Dr. Paula Kahumbu

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439899591 ISBN 13: 9780439899598

Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2007

Synopsis

The in-demand follow-up to the New York Times bestseller, OWEN & MZEE, the friendship that has touched millions around the world.

In this exciting follow-up to OWEN & MZEE, the New York Times bestselling story about an orphaned baby hippo named Owen and the 130-year-old giant turtle, Mzee, Craig Hatkoff explores the language of love, friendship, and nurturance that these two incredible creatures share with one another. This book traces their first year together, including their adorable playful ways and the unique "language" that they have developed.

About this title

About the Author:

Peter Greste is the photo-illustrator of the bestselling Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship. Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship was published in the spring of 2006 and became an international phenomenon.

Peter is an internationally recognized photojournalist and broadcaster for the BBC. He currently lives in Mombasa, Kenya.

Isabella Hatkoff is the co-author of bestselling Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship with her father, Craig Hatkoff, and ecologist Dr. Paula Kahumbu. Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship was published in the spring of 2006 and became an international phenomonen. She lives in Manhattan with her family
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.
Dr. Paula Kahumbu, co-author of the bestselling Owen & Mzee: The True Story of a Remarkable Friendship and Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship, oversees Owen and Mzee's care in Mombasa, Kenya. She is an ecologist and General Manager of Lafarge Eco Systems

Review:

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)
. . .

About this edition

• Publisher: Scholastic Press
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0439899591
• ISBN 13: 9780439899598
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Peter Greste