Anna & Samia

September 1, 2019
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)

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October 1, 2019
Preschool-G Imagine sharing your home with a 1,500-pound animal who barges into the bathroom at inopportune moments and tries to ride in a car despite not fitting. Samia, a black rhino, and Anna Merz, a wildlife advocate who helped establish Kenya's Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, built a strong bond after Anna began caring for the orphaned Samia?up until she grew so large she got stuck in doorways. Carefully emphasizing that release into the wild was always the goal, Meisel's true-life story has Anna repeating to the rhino?whose snorts and snuffs she learns to expertly distinguish? One day . . . you'll be able to live on your own. But not now. Sure enough, that day comes, but the two continue their friendship. 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.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)