LIVING FREE

by Joy Adamson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 16, 1961

With the tremendous success of Born Free this sequel should have an assured reception and sale. It is the same careful annotating of Elsa's subsequent life after she has been returned to the wild and finds a mate, as the Adamsons observe her during her pregnancy and after the birth of the three cubs -- Jespah, Gopah and Little Elsa. The anxiety about her when they were unable to find either her or the cubs, the ways in which, when she returned, Elsa kept them from locating her babies, the manner in which she finally let them see the little ones, and the progress, through the first year, when Elsa brought them into camp and tried to get her ""pride"" acquainted -- are all told with the most careful concern for facts. There are stories of guests, among them the English publisher, Collins, and Sir Julian Huxley; of the dangers from poachers; of droughts and floods; of the variety of animals, birds and crocodiles -- not to mention the threats from elephants. The determination to insure the family's continuing their wild life brings about the decision to remove Elsa and the cubs from the reservation, the step which ends the book. Huxley's introduction stresses the contribution the story of Elsa has made in the ""young science of animal behavior (or ethology...)"" and the importance of the information about her psychological development. This, for most readers, is not the vital thing for once more Elsa is an unequalled star in all her moods and attitudes.

Pub Date: Oct. 16, 1961

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harcourt, Brace & World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION