This cute 24 page book is for the 2nd to 5th Grade crowd. The subject is Bindi Irwin of television fame. Many kids will know her from her father's show, but this book takes you up past his death to her new show and clothing line.

The book is entirely wholesome with nothing that I could find to object to. The tragic subject of her father's passing is handled well and briefly in the chapter titled "A Sad Day".

The chapter headings are:

Animal Lover
Family Ties
Family Adventures
A Sad Day
Life at the Zoo
The Australia Zoo
School Days
Jungle Girl
Buzz
Snapshot
Important Words
Web Sites
Index

In addition, there is a glossary at the end of the book where words like Aboriginal, debut, and memorial are defined. There is also a "fact" sheet where bullet items tell us things like where Bindi's home is and when she was born.

All in all, this book will appeal mostly to young children that like Bindi, The Jungle Girl television show. In appearance, this book follows the format of the other "Big Buddy Biographies" which means that nearly every other page there are full page photos, most of which show Bindi with either her family or with animals from the Australia Zoo. A recurrent them is the family's mission to protect endangered animals.

The Accelerated Reading Level (ATOS) for the book is 3.4 which means that the average entering 3rd Grader in the 4th month of school should be able to read it without getting frustrated by the vocabulary.

The principle value of books like this is that they promote reading. A good choice to get from the library.

Pam T. for http://www.BooksForKids-Reviews.com ( )