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Review of “Looking for Miza”

Category: Gorillas | Date: Sep 17 2008 | By: baraza

Though it was announced back in June  the launch of our newest childrens book is actually taking place next weekend in New York. The book is part of a campaign that was born out of a commitment to action made at the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative shortly after last summer’s tragic massacre of ten mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park. The campaing includes the publication of Looking for Miza: The True Story of the Mountain Gorilla Family Who Rescued One of Their Own (Scholastic Press), and the creation of a multi-platform and standards-based educational initiative that will teach children, teachers and parents about the gorilla crisis.

All of the authors and photographer Peter Greste will be in New York for the launch. We will give you details about the events that will be taking place in case you’d like to attend.

I was very pleased to read the first book review on Amazon.com

“Moving, inspiring, informative, beautifully illustrated, and very, very important. This is a true story about one family of mountain gorillas, living in the Virunga National Forest (currently occupied by rebel army forces) and their attempts to return a lost orphan to their fold. “Miza” will engage your mind and steal your heart. You cannot ignore the plight of these magnificent creatures whose lives hang in such delicate balance, threatened by deforestation, poaching, and infection and war. Their innocence, so similar to our own, is poignantly and simply stated: “When gorillas feel safe, they play.”

Another review is on Eco Childs play here.

looking-for-miza.jpg

Craig Hatkoff, my friend and co-author of the book  wrote a moving piece about how this project came about on the scholastic website

“When we first started the Looking of Miza project, the only photograph we had of Miza was the picture that now appears on the back cover of the book. It was a photo of just an eye peering through a bush, snapped by Peter Greste last summer. It was the only photo Peter could get of Miza, who was still traumatized from her ordeal of being lost in the jungle. Park rangers Diddy and Innocent confirmed it was Miza by her distinct and now-famous nose print. With only that one photo in our possession, we agreed with Scholastic to do the book even if we couldn’t get any other pictures of Miza because of the importance of telling Miza’s story and raising global awareness of the mountain gorilla crisis”.

This article goes on to show how a book cover is so important, and how much effort it took to get the “right” book cover.

If you have the book  and have read it, please tell us if you like it - or if you don’t.

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12 Responses to “Review of “Looking for Miza””

Christine C., on 17 Sep 2008

Paula — I read the book and it is terrific. Seeing Innocent and Diddy highlighted was really nice too. I think you guys did a great job with this…it should tug on the hearts of quite a few people and hopefully will get the masses motivated to become more involved. The pictures are just perfect, and the story is translatable to both adults and children.

Miza has always been one of my very favorites, so having a book about her is just amazing.
Of course, I worry about her and the safety of her family goven the current situation in Congo, and hope that her story will have a
happy ending.

sheryl, washington dc, on 17 Sep 2008

I just ordered both books, Miza and Owen & Mzee, from amazon.com. So, I’m all ready for autographs!

Hey! you fixed the comments window. Awesome.

s.

Pamme/Shell Beach, CA, on 17 Sep 2008

Can you tell me how I can find out more about the educational initiative?
Thanks. Pam

Lisa, California, on 17 Sep 2008

I just ordered my copy too. I can’t wait. Paula, please let me know if you come to the Los Angeles area to promote this book. I would love to bring my boys and get our copy autographed. : ) Lisa

admin, on 18 Sep 2008

Hi Christine, wonderful that you liked it. It’s so hard when writing a a story to know how people will respond. I’m glad you think we got the right balance with it. Hey Sheryl - thanks for sticking with us through the tough weekend! We need to buy a bunch of signing pens now!

Paula, on 18 Sep 2008

Hi Lisa, LA is one the places in my little books of ‘places I most want to go before I die’. I’m not sure when but we would love to meet you and your boys.

Paula, on 18 Sep 2008

Hi Pamme, the scholastic website has most of the information on related educational activities associated with this book. There will also be a website dedicated to Miza on their site http://miza.com/ which is currently under construction - it’ll probably be up and running sometime next week. Check out owenandmzee.com which was done after the launch of our previous book to to get an idea about the kinds of activities that this site will be offering. There will also be a big advertisement in the NY times some time next week as the launch will include a gorilla summit which involves kids and this will be beamed into classrooms around the country. Stay on this blog for updates!

sheryl, washington dc, on 19 Sep 2008

My books arrived today! I’m reading “Looking for Miza” now and I love it. The photos are terrific and how cool is it to see Diddy and Innocent and the noseprint notebooks again? Pretty cool.

Remembering Miza’s sore hands and now wandering where she is and how’s she’s doing makes me sad, though.

s.

Lisa, California, on 20 Sep 2008

I got my book yesterday too. Wow, what a great little book and of course a beautiful story of how Kabirizi looked for and found Miza. It really hit me, hearing about the difficult call Dr. Jacques had to make in leaving Miza to be cared for by her family. But he made it, and it was the best decision. She seems to be thriving now. Hopefully, she and her family members are staying out of harms way, with all that is going on. I also loved seeing Diddy and Innocent, as well as their families profiled in the book. Additionally, I think that there was some great information at the back of the book regarding threats to mountain gorillas and their habitat and solutions. I’m going to donate a copy of this book to my boys school library. As well as, read it to my sons 2nd grade class. It’s just such an important issue, obviously. Last but not least, I loved the illustrations of the nose prints on the inside covers.

Lisa, California, on 20 Sep 2008

Hi Paula, I forgot to say that Kenya is one of the places I most want to go before I die. So, I promise to meet you in LA, if you promise to meet me in Kenya. LOL! Lisa

paula, on 22 Sep 2008

Hey guys please check out the MGVP blog -http://gorilladoctors.wildlifedirect.org/2008/09/22/snares-and-scares/ the gorillas are in trouble again this time from snares.

Baraza » Kids Gorilla Summit: Live in NY and Online, on 23 Sep 2008

[…] Paula wrote in her previous post, they (all the authors, photographers and the publisher) will be launching their book, Looking for […]

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