Children's Literature

Chiru are unique animals whose wool, called shahtoosh, "the king of wools," is "the warmest and the finest in the world." They live in Chang Tang, a bitterly cold area of Tibet. Every summer the females migrate to a secret place to give birth. When George B. Schaller learned about the chiru, he realized that he had to find that place and protect it from hunters, to keep the chiru from extinction. This is the dramatic, true, vividly and poetically told story of the incredibly difficult journey to discover the calving place, and then the effort to have the Chinese government protect it. Sidebars add further information. Double-page scenes are like spacious dioramas, with acrylic paints creating impressive mountain ranges and vast flatlands; each bathed in blues or violets, or amid snow-streaked yellow calving grounds. A decorative frontispiece in Tibetan style, a mystical concluding illustration, and decorative borders all suggest Tibetan art. There is a map, plus factual notes, photographs of the expedition, and a bibliography. There is also a reference to the Wildlife Conservation Society, to which contributions to help chiru can be sent. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz