Three Books for Lemur Lovers

It is no secret that my daughter loves lemurs. Ever since she was 2 years old, she has adored these bouncy primates, and we’ve cultivated this curiosity as much as we can. To find out more about these fascinating animals, we found some equally fascinating books on the subject. If you’re looking to widen your animal knowledge on this adorable creature from Madagascar, check out these great reads.

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Two of our favorite lemur specific books are A Little Lemur Named Mew and In Search of Lemurs, both written and illustrated by Joyce Powzyk.  Educated at Harvard and Duke, Ms. Powzyk is an expert lemur researcher, scientist, and artist who has worked extensively in Madagascar. For younger children, the first book (above photo) is a story about a little lemur’s daily life: how he looks for food, plays, naps, and is careful of danger. There are lots of facts and details written in a simple story fashion that engages all ages. Young and old children will enjoy following Mew’s adventures through the Madagascar forest that he calls home.

The second book is for the slightly older elementary crowd, and is the fascinating field journal of a scientist studying wildlife in the rainforest of Madagascar. The watercolor illustrations perfectly accompany the easy-to-read, educational text that opens the world of the adventures that animal researchers face in the wild. My daughter was captivated by the suspense, and then ensuing excitement of observing lemurs in their natural habitat. Beware: your child may declare they are moving to Madagascar to become an animal scientist after reading this book.

An entertaining introduction to some of the unique species of Madagascar is Mission to Madagascar from the Adventures of Riley series. While Riley, his cousin, aunt and uncle hike through the lush rainforest in search of the elusive nocturnal aye-aye lemur, they stumble upon many other unique creatures. This is a fun and scientific adventure that holds kids attention from beginning to end, and has a subtle message about protecting our planet and endangered species. Something I love about this series are the bubbles of information from real experts. You can include or skip these extra details depending on the age of your child (or how late you are for bedtime!).

After reading these and several other non-fiction books from our library, we love to go the zoo and see the lemurs in action. Check out this post on where to see lemurs at zoos around the world, and also learn how to turn your kids’ favorite animals into global lessons. This is not the last post about lemurs, if my daughter has anything to do with it:).