The amazing story of Anna Merz, who helped save black rhinoceroses from extinction.
After growing up in stodgy, post-WWII London, Anna Merz is determined to live a life of grand adventure. She spends much of her life in Ghana, racing horses, exploring the Sahara, and rescuing orphaned wild animals that are dropped at her door.
Anna retires to Kenya in anticipation of rest and relaxation. Instead, she finds her true calling: that of Kifaru Mama—Rhino Mama. After witnessing the slaughter of wild animals sold for their parts, Anna is determined to rescue the highly endangered black rhino, the dodo of the modern world—ungainly creatures destined for extinction. From building eight-foot-tall fences around five thousand acres of land, to darting rhinos from helicopters and trucking them to safety, Anna works to save one black rhino at a time.
When faced with having to raise a newborn rhino abandoned by her mother or let it die, Anna learns by trial and error to not only keep baby Samia alive but to raise her so she'll be able to live on her own.
How to Raise a Rhino is the true story of Anna Merz who helped establish the Ngare Sergoi Rhino Sanctuary, which became the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in Kenya. Readers of all ages will cheer Anna on as she faces and defeats every obstacle with unwavering perseverance to save the black rhino from being poached to extinction.
"There's so much I loved about this book: the exotic setting, the woman with moxie, and the rhino who won my heart! I don't know that I'll ever get on a safari or go to Africa, but this story is so rich in sensory detail that I felt like I was there on the sanctuary with Anna and her rhinos." - Amazon Review
Dragonfeather Books
142 pp. ● 6x9
$13.95 (pb) $4.99 (eb)
ISBN 978-1-960373-04-5 (pb)
JUVENILE NONFICTION / Animals / Hippos & Rhinos
JUVENILE NONFICTION / Science & Nature / Zoology
JUVENILE NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / Science & Technology
JUVENILE NONFICTION / Biography & Autobiography / Women
For ages 9 to 12
Publication date: May 23, 2023
Deb Aronson is the former assistant regional adviser of the Illinois chapter of SCBWI and have been a member for almost fifteen years. Her true story of the famous filly who beat all the boys Alexandra the Great: The Record-Breaking Filly Who Ruled the Racetrack was published by Chicago Review Press and she has published several articles (all non-fiction) in the children’s magazines Muse and Ask. She loves to write nonfiction stories about ordinary people (usually women) doing extraordinary things; stories she wish she’d had in middle school.