Jane Goodall - Little People, Big Dreams I Read Aloud I Biographies for kids

Hey everyone, today I want to share with you the life story of someone who just like David Attenborough is passionate about nature and the beauties of our world, Jane Goodall. So listen on if you want to find out how this incredible woman became a trailblazer in animal behaviour. Oh and by the way, for those of you who don't know, a trailblazer is a pioneer, a person who is the first to do something. So let's go! When Jane was a little girl, her father gave her a stuffed chimpanzee called Jubilee. She carried him wherever she went. Jane loved animals very much. She wanted to live in the jungle with wild chimpanzees, just like the heroes of her bedtime stories Tarzan and Jane. At night, her mother read her their adventures. But Jane could not afford to go to university to study animals, so she would have to study them in her own way. She saved every penny she had until she could buy a boat ticket to go to Kenya. When she arrived, Jane met a well-known scientist called Louis Leakey. He was looking for a chimpanzee researcher willing to study them in the wild. He thought that they could learn about humans by studying apes. It was the opportunity Jane had been waiting for. So Jane took another journey to the shores of Gombe in Tanzania. To start with, she couldn't see any chimpanzees, but she had the feeling that they were near, watching her. She decided to sit quietly in the same spot day after day. Finally, a small group of chimpanzees appeared, and they let her sit with them. Jane had been accepted into the family. Instead of numbering them as all the other scientists did, Jane decided to give every chimpanzee a name. There was David Greybeard, Flo, Flint, Fifi, and Gigi, to name a few. By watching them carefully, she noticed that some chimps were kind, quiet, and generous, whilst others were bullies. It seemed that humans and chimps were not so different after all. Then, Jane made another incredible discovery. Chimpanzees could make their own tools. This was something only humans were thought to do. Jane's talent was quickly recognized by Cambridge University. Here, she studied for her doctorate in animal behavior, and it wasn't long before she wrote her first article for one of the most famous science magazines. Jane continued to study chimps in the Gombe for 40 years, but jungles were starting to disappear across Africa, which put all animals in danger. She knew she had to do something. Jane joined countless projects to protect nature. She was no longer just a courageous researcher, but also the most determined wildlife defender the world had ever seen. And the little girl who loved animals challenges us to be kind to nature, because if chimpanzees can live in harmony with their environment, we can too. And here are a few photos of Jane I have selected for you, showing her as a little girl with her stuffed chimpanzee, and as a grown woman in the Gombe with real life chimps. I really hope you enjoyed Jane's story, and please let me know if you have any requests about stories or incredible people you want to hear about. See you soon!