The Misadventures of Ori Tang
by: Sandra E. Stern; Illustrated by Alex Walton
Published by: Brown Books Publishing Company
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Reviewed by Sabrina Williams
This is the story of a young orangutan that wanders off to prove his bravery after being teased by classmates. He vows to take on a tiger that his village fears, One-Fang Flossie. When he fails to return, everyone panics, believing he must have actually found Flossie, for whom he is no match. His father, King Tang, and Uncle Cinnamon set out to find Ori before it’s too late.
Ori’s fate actually lies in the hands of two human poachers, who have caged him and are prepared to take him far away from the forest. His animal friends and family unite to overcome the poachers and save Ori. The intention of the book is to draw attention to the threats of endangered species, hence the poachers. Other threats are mentioned throughout the story, such as logging and forest fires.
Stern develops the human qualities in the animals, giving each a name and describing how they live in communities and care for each other. The book opens and closes with a poem titled “Do Animals Cry?” It suggests that even though they might not shed tears as humans do, animals express their sadness in other ways.
What could be an issue for this book is that the reading difficulty is gauged for 9- to 12-year olds, but the story content, length, and book design would appeal to a much younger audience, probably age 4 to 8. It is interesting how each of the animals is personified, but again, that tactic would appeal to a younger reader, as well. It is a large picture book, but the colors of the illustrations are mostly the earthy greens and browns of the forest, not a color scheme that usually attracts the eye of a young child.
There is a page of factual information about the existence and survival of orangutans, scientific facts that would capture the attention of the middle reader (9-12). The author obviously attempted to include a wide range of ages.
Armchair Interview says: A book created to tell children about endangered animals.
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