Synopses & Reviews
South Americas story is as varied as its geography of soaring mountains, scorching deserts, and lush rainforests. In Ecuador alone, there are 25,000 kinds of plants, 1,500 species of birds, 4,500 different butterflies, and 300 mammals! Gena K. Gorrells brilliant text combines an often tragic history with the problems and triumphs of the present. The information she offers ranges from “the Requirement” (a document read out by the conquistadors each time they came upon a new group of indigenous people to justify their actions) to drug cartels, from the hidden and secretive Elders (a civilization that retreated to the mountains to preserve its customs and now considers itself the “guardian of the world”) to Gabriel García Márquez.
Replete with Andrej Krystoforskis vibrant illustrations, maps, an index, and bibliography, In the Land of the Jaguar: South America and Its People is a fascinating, colorful journey of exploration and discovery.
About the Author
Gena K. Gorrell is a book editor and an award-winning writer of nonfiction for young people. Her third book,
Heart and Soul: The Story of Florence Nightingale, won the Norma Fleck Award for Nonfiction. In her spare time she is a first-aid instructor and a volunteer officer in the Toronto Police Marine Unit. She lives in Toronto with her husband and her dog.
Andrej Krystoforski was born in Poland during World War II. After earning a masters degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, he began working as an illustrator and designer. Several years after receiving an art scholarship from the Kosciusko Foundation in New York, he emigrated to the United States. Andrej won many national and international awards before moving to Canada, where his interest in animation led to his involvement in the creation of many television shows and features including Pippi Longstocking, Heidi, Seven Little Monsters, Little Bear, Bob and Margaret, and Max and Ruby. Today, Andrej Krystoforski lives in Canada, creating childrens and young adult book illustrations.