Jane Goodall · A little look, a big discovery

ZENA MEETS

Jane Goodall

A little look, a big discovery

Written by Zen Bloom
Art direction by Rowan Vale

A little book to read together.
Turn the page and come along!

Book 07 in the ZenBloomBooks collection

Hello, little explorer!

Zena is our storybook guide. She dresses up and acts out ideas from this real person’s life.

The girl in these pictures is Zena. The story is about Jane Goodall.

Read. Point. Wonder. Play.

MEET THE REAL PERSON

Jane Goodall

Jane Goodall loved watching animals. In 1960, she began studying wild chimpanzees in what is now Tanzania. By looking patiently, she learned that chimpanzees make and use tools. She spent her life helping people care for animals and their homes.

Zena quietly observes a robin from a distance in a green garden, holding a small notebook

A girl watched birds and bees.

And leaves upon the trees.

She looked both high and low.

There was so much to know.

Zena reads a wildlife picture book at home beside a clearly stuffed toy chimpanzee, with a simple unlabelled globe on the desk

She read of lands away.

And wished to go one day.

Of forests, wild and green,

And creatures yet unseen.

Zena stands on a forest path with binoculars and a notebook, surrounded by three broad green tropical leaves, a distant blue lake behind her

She went where tall trees grew.

And found a world quite new.

With paper, pen and care,

She watched the chimps out there.

Zena looks through binoculars at a wild chimpanzee high on a distant tree branch

The chimps stayed far away.

She watched them day by day.

She gave them time and space.

And learned about their place.

Zena sits patiently on a low rock with an open notebook, looking toward distant foliage

She waited, calm and still.

Beside a leafy hill.

A notebook on her knee

Held clues from all she'd see.

A wild chimpanzee on the far left removes a leaf from a thin twig beside a small termite mound

A chimp picked up a twig.

Not very long or big.

It pulled the leaves away.

What would it do today?

A wild chimpanzee on the far left uses a thin stick to fish termites from a small termite mound

A stick went down a hole.

A tool to reach its goal.

The chimp found bugs to eat.

A little insect treat.

A mother chimpanzee gently carries her young in a leafy forest, naturally resting together on the far left

She saw how chimps could play.

And care throughout the day.

A mother held her young.

A baby climbed and clung.

Zena and two child friends plant a young tree with help from a friendly adult in a sunny community garden

She spoke for trees and land.

And helped us understand.

That creatures need a home.

With room to live and roam.

Zena and a child friend quietly watch a garden bird through cardboard binoculars while sitting on a bench, an open notebook nearby

Watch quietly, give space.

Each bird has its own place.

What little clues are near?

What can you see or hear?

Look again

Find the little stick.

Find the termite mound.

What is the chimp doing?

Why might a stick help?

Zena stands with open hands, inviting you to try an activity, in a forest clearing.

Have a go

Watch a bird from far away.

Keep quiet and give it space.

Ask a grown-up to help

draw what you notice.

Tell the story

Why did she wait?

What did she write down?

What might you notice

if you look for longer?

Zena sits cross-legged and thinks about a question, in a forest clearing.

A little wonder

Chimpanzees are apes.

They do not have tails.

They care for their young.

Who helps a little baby?

FOR GROWN-UPS

A real life, a first little story

Jane Goodall lived from 1934 to 2025. She was born in London and grew up mostly in Bournemouth.
She began studying wild chimpanzees at Gombe in 1960, in what is now Tanzania.
She observed chimpanzees making and using tools, including stripped twigs used to collect termites.
She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977 and co-founded the Roots & Shoots youth programme in 1991. Today's wildlife-watching activities should keep a respectful distance; the toy chimp in this book is a stuffed toy.

This book simplifies a longer life. Zena’s play, friends and props illustrate ideas; they do not reconstruct particular childhood events.

Read slowly. Leave time for questions. Adapt the activities to your child.

Keep discovering

Original text and illustrations for ZenBloomBooks.

Choose another adventure

Written by Zen Bloom
Art direction by Rowan Vale