Miracle in Sumatra: The Story of Gutsy Gus by Jeanne McNaney

Genre: Children's Fiction

Copyright: 2009
Illustrated by: David Cochard
Pages: 34
Book Source: From Publicist for Review

Author & activitist Jeanne McNaney teaches children about wildlife conservation and endangered species preservation. Her first children's book The Legend of Honey Hollow introduces children to environmentalism and the dangers of global warming.

Deep in the jungles of Sumatra there lives a courageous little orangutan named Gutsy Gus. One day, when Gus is out playing, his parents are captured by animal trappers, and it's up to Gus to rescue them. With the help of a guardian angel named Gabriella and a brave little girl named Maya, Gus fights for his parents' freedom and proves that even one small orangutan can make a big difference.

Review:

This beautiful story with its gorgeous cover highlights the very real and tragic occurrence of animal poaching and habitat loss for not only the orangutans of Sumatra but many species worldwide. The illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the story; bright, colourful and captivating for both young and old.

Gus becomes a furry ambassador, teaching our children the sad plight of the orangutan and inspiring them to do what's right; show kindness to others, preserve natural habitat and protect our precious animals. The story demonstrates you are never too young or too insignificant to make a difference.

After reading Miracle in Sumatra myself I asked my almost 7 year old niece to read the story with me, so I'm happy to be sharing some of Michaela's thoughts with you. Michaela liked the story, her favourite part was Gabriella the guardian angel of the forest and the beautiful pictures. She thought Gus was a very brave little orangutan and was intrigued when Maya turned into an orangutan to help Gus find his mum and dad, Xera and Cornelius. Michaela is an independent reader but found the amount of text on many of the pages too daunting to read herself, however when reading some of the smaller paragraphs she coped well with the language used. Michaela recognised Hunter as a bully and told me how kindhearted Gus was to help Hunter after all the trapper had done to hurt his family, but the concept of preserving natural habitat for our animals was something I needed to explain further.

This book is recommended for ages 4 - 8 but I think children aged 6 to 10 years will enjoy reading or being read this delightful story. Miracle in Sumatra would make an excellent teacher resource for primary school children, aiding in discussion for environmental units on conservation, deforestation and protection of animals.

Thanks to Shelby from Phenix Publicity for providing this copy for review.

To celebrate blogging friendships & my birthday two lucky readers can take their pick from a choice of 6 books in my Dec/Jan giveaway. Check this blog post for details. International entrants welcome.