Jane Goodall (1934–2025)—scientist, conservationist, humanitarian—advocated ardently for the preservation of the living world right up to the end of her extraordinarily courageous, creative, giving, and enormously influential life. She transformed wildlife studies through her groundbreaking work with chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, then expanded her conservation efforts to encompass all of the planet’s plants and animals, founding the international Jane Goodall Institute and Roots & Shoots, her global program for young people. She wrote 27 books for all ages, including “The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times” (2021); tirelessly traveled the world to share her message of caring, learning, and action; and received numerous awards. These books encapsulate Goodall’s legacy in the work of scientists and others deeply inspired and guided by her knowledge, wisdom, and convictions.—Donna Seaman, Booklist Editor-in-Chief
“The Animals’ Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age”
By Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce. 2017. Beacon.
Animal-behavior expert Bekoff, cofounder of Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program and Ethologists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, with bioethicist Pierce, affirms the intelligence and emotions of animals whose lives are controlled by humans, from livestock to lab animals to pets, and calls for far kinder and more respectful interactions.
“Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace”
By Carl Safina. 2020. Holt.
Award-winning biologist Safina explains that all animal life exhibits culture, which improves the survival rate of the group, taking readers deep into the cultures of sperm whales, scarlet macaws, and our close relative and Jane Goodall’s adored species, chimpanzees.
“Following Fifi: My Adventures among Wild Chimpanzees; Lessons from Our Closest Relations”
By John Crocker. 2017. Pegasus.
After college, Crocker went to Tanzania’s Gombe National Park to study chimpanzees with Jane Goodall, learning as Goodall knew so intimately just how similar humans and chimpanzees are.
“Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man”
By Dale Peterson. 2006. Mariner.
Although Goodall lived a dynamic life for nearly two decades after this vivid biography was first published, its portrayal remains freshly illuminating and pleasurable as Peterson chronicles her personal and professional lives and notes that Goodall possessed, “high energy, a natural and happy competitiveness, a capacity for intense and extended concentration, a surprising attraction to risk, and an unusual tolerance for physical stress,” qualities that proved essential to her uniquely demanding life as a pioneering field scientist and international activist.
“Mama’s Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves”
By Frans de Waal. 2019. Norton.
Do we share the same emotions as all the other animals with whom we share the planet? Celebrated primatologist de Waal, firmly in the Goodall mode, answers with a resounding yes in a captivating and keenly observant survey of animal species.
“Visionary Women: How Rachel Carson, Jane Jacobs, Jane Goodall, and Alice Waters Changed Our World”
By Andrea Barnet. 2018. Ecco.
It’s fascinating to see Goodall from Barnet’s perspective as she aligns this paradigm-setting primate expert turned global ambassador for the living world with three other visionaries—environmentalist Carson, city advocate Jacobs, and pioneering organic restaurateur Waters—who offered “a new, more holistic way to think about the world, and a more benign way of living in it.”
“What the Chicken Knows: A New Appreciation of the World’s Most Familiar Bird”
By Sy Montgomery. 2024. Atria.
Naturalist and beloved writer Montgomery gets up close and personal with animals, always attuned, as Goodall was, to their emotions, intelligence, and personalities. She has written books about octopuses, turtles, a beloved pig, hummingbirds, moon bears, and pink dolphins. Here she vividly shares her love for the chickens she has lived with, describing their affection, sense of place, gift for language, love of play, and sense of humor.
This article was originally published in Booklist Reader, the magazine for library patrons, from the American Library Association’s nationally distributed book review publication, Booklist.
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