Shaman's Apprentice: A Tale of the Amazon Rain Forest (Reading Rainbow Book) Paperback – Illustrated, 1 April 2001

I chose this book to start off a project about the Rainforest with my class of 8/9 year olds. We enjoyed the story, the information about life in the rainforest and the wonderful, most beautiful illustrations. We also enjoyed some role play, performing the story as a play.

Brilliant. I am an Ofsted registered childminder and bought this book to help me fulfil 'diversity' and 'inclusion' requirements. I read this book with children ranging from 3 to 8 yrs. All enjoyed it, the older ones showing real interest in the story of a life and culture so different from their own and the younger ones enthralled by the beautifully detailed illustrations. The story of a boy growing up in a world where his own cultural heritage is threatened by the changing world around him is clearly and sympathetically told, interesting and easy to follow. A positive outcome makes this an enjoyable read for all. This is a lovely book.

A useful resource for class on rainforest with kids. Now being used by youngest as a reader at night. Good service and value for money.

Outstanding book. The children really enjoyed. Got lots of good quality English work out of them. Especially when they had to compare it to The Great Kapok Tree.

Wonderful story, eye opener for wee ones

Beautifully illustrated, powerful messages, great for teaching children about the rainforest and focusing on english language. Creates great discussion within the classroom.

The kids in the class really enjoyed this story. A real bonus to our rainforest topic.

A really good story, well illustrated

Product in perfect conditions!

Beautiful pictures, lovely tale...best children's book ever and one of their favourite books on the shelf! There are very few books that I can recommend and this is definitely one of them!

I was first attracted to this book by the cover art. It depicts a scene with an older man and a young boy looking around the rainforest with wisdom and awe. As it sub-title states, A Tale of the Amazon rain forest, I was not misled. This is a fiction book yet the information is accurate. It displays the plants and tribal life in a typical Amazonian village.The illustrations were colorful, realistic and related to the text. On the inside front and back cover pages are drawings of Amazonian plants. These drawings give the name of the plant and its medicinal use. As an adult, I found that interesting and, as a teacher, I was able to use these pages with my students to teach about rain forest plants.The story follows a young Amazonian boy who when first introduced is lying sick in his hammock. After he is visited by the tribe's medicine man - the shaman - he recovers from his fever. The boy learns from the shaman, from visits from white missionaries, and from his own people. The story is interesting and does stay on point - the importance of protecting the healing plants of the earth.This book is appropriate for grades 1-4. Many teaching activities can be found within the pages of this book. For example, matching the plants pictured in the front of the book to the plants illustrating the dialogue pages. Younger children would like to find and identify the animals shown throughout this book.I would recommend this book to parents and teachers.Thomas Sandusky, author of Gracie the glass tree frog

It was a very good book with deep inspiration behind it. My daughter (2.5 years old) enjoyed reading this book which was to my surprise. However, I would recommend this book to a more mature age group (say to a 5-10 years old) where they can learn how to appreciate the nature. We learn a lot from our mother nature and it is important to sustain it.

I had to laugh at the reviewer who said "a very young child doesn't need to be seeing graphic rears and breasts" - especially considering the fact that, well, MY very young child sees MY breasts up front and personal on a regular basis every single day. But anyway, I digress, somewhat. There really ARE no "rears" graphically displayed - there are a couple of vary vague side views peeking out from long loin clothes, and I never saw anything i recognized as a breast, unless it was, perhaps, the pudgy chest of an older indigenous man. This book is beautiful - we first saw it in the local library and I bought it in the Amazon marketplace on the spot. It's the kind of truth and the kind of story I want my daughter reading from a very young age (and honestly? I want her to know that 'rears and breasts', in the right, natural context, are exactly that - NATURAL!). The artwork is beautiful.