Dr. White by Jane Goodall, Illustrated by Julie Litty


By Tanya Turgeon

REVIEW by Tanya Turgeon

A Michael Neugebauer Book, 1999
$6.95

From her participation in Lively Licks, we know Jane Goodall is not limited to only things chimpanzee but just to prove this extends into her writing, let's take a look at "Dr White".  Like "Rickie and Henri", this is a children's book based on actual events and available at the Jane Goodall Institute website.  Unlike "Rickie and Henri", a dog takes center stage all on his own in this story.

The title character is creatively unveiled a few pages in as he makes the rounds of comfort and healing to the sickest children in a hospital.  Of course, Dr. White is no traditional doctor and, in fact, looks suspiciously like a Maltese in full page water color illustrations by Julie Litty.  Eventually the tender-hearted fluffy white dog finds an enemy in the health inspector, who forbids Dr. White from even entering the hospital.  Yet even the health inspector is not immune to the heartbreak of illness when his own daughter is admitted as a patient.  A kind nurse lets Dr. White back in to do what he does best and the health inspector becomes Dr. White's biggest fan. 

Just as Rickie and Henri demonstrated the nurturing possibilities between animal species, Dr. White shows the amazing healing powers so often offered by our four-legged canine friends to the human race.  For children it is a great introduction into the special world of therapy dogs.  For parents there is a nice paragraph in small print on the copyright page addressed to your kids but meant for you.  It reveals Goodall's inspiration and serves as a modern addendum to the legend-like quality of the story.

"Dr. White" concludes with "No one will ever know how many lives the little white dog saved..."  The same can be said for Jane Goodall, who has literally saved numerous animal lives and like any good influential leader is passing the same life-respecting ethics down to the next generation through her writing.



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