The most recommended books about chimpanzees

When in school I commented that my dog seemed angry with me, my teacher replied: “Don’t be anthropomorphic by erroneously ascribing human emotions to animals.”

The view of animals as unemotional automatons was the prevailing scientific view for decades, although we pet owners suspected otherwise. Then observers such as Jane Goodall and de Vaal showed that we were right all along, as shown in many of De Vaal’s books.

Mama’s Last Hug begins with an account of the mutual emotions expressed by de Vaal and the chimpanzee matriarch Mama when she hugged him from her death bed. The book recounts many heartwarming examples of chimpanzees and other animals expressing emotions.

Since we have common evolutionary ancestors with other animals: why should we ever have thought we were unique in having intelligence and emotions? 

This is a children’s book that tells the story about a sweet chimp who is looking for a hug from a variety of different animals and can’t seem to get one.

The story evokes strong feelings from young children about rejection, the need to be connected to other people, and the need to belong. I love this book because there are very few words in it, so it gives you and your child the opportunity to fill in the gaps with what you think is happening. 

Also, talking about experiences of rejection can be very difficult for children, and this experience can create opportunities for your child to speak with you about times when they have wanted comfort and haven’t received it.

Told from the perspective of Helena, a veterinarian whose career was cut short by—you guessed it!—cancer, this book explores the ethical implications of testing on animals while unpacking the messy reality of grief. As Helena’s husband, David, struggles to care for his late wife’s houseful of beloved animals, ghost-Helena reflects on the meaninglessness of her existence. I think we all like to believe we leave some kind of impact on the world, but what if we don’t? And who are we to call ourselves superior beings when other creatures are forced to suffer at our expense?

This book is about Jane Goodall, famous chimp researcher and United Nations Messenger of Peace. As a child, she shared her backyard “magical world of nature” with her stuffed chimp named Jubilee. The book Tarzan of the Apes expanded her passion into dreams of going to Africa to study animals. “Wow!” She did it, and her stick-to-it observations led to the discovery that chimpanzees make and use tools. As she protects wildlife she also helps people in wild places to get better food, water, and education. Her concerns for all creatures have inspired children around the world to take some action toward a better planet.  

I love this book because it taught me emotional self-control. One of the things I really disliked about myself was how stressed I’d get and then take it out on my team. I’d always apologize, but I think they were often afraid of me and not sure which Jude they’d get. Peters’ Chimp model helped me to understand why this was happening and what to do about it.

I learned to nurture my ‘chimp’ brain more, notice when I was talking to other ‘chimps,’ know how to calm them, and most of all, manage my stress better. I often explain this model to the managers I coach to help them embrace their emotions as a way of managing them.

A childless couple adopts a chimpanzee named Looee, and you already know from reading that sentence that it will lead to trouble and heartbreak. After a few pages, I didn’t care. In McAdam’s skilled hands, the inevitable sadness doesn’t matter, because the delicately handled point of view perfectly captures a doomed creature trapped between two opposing identities. In contrast, we also meet Podo, an alpha chimp at a research facility seeking to test the intelligence of primates. Podo is fully ape, but he is turning into something more. Their paths soon join, taking them deeper into a gray area between human and animal that I had never seen rendered on the page so vividly before. 

This book changed my world. Jane’s work exploring the behavior and ecology of chimpanzees was simply inspirational when I first read it as a child. I wanted to do what she did—study animals.

It was only when I returned to it that I realized the significance of her ability to tell stories about the animals she met, introducing their characters as well as the data. Additionally, her work went on to break the barriers of personhood. If we accept human exceptionalism—that we are so special because of what we can do—then we need to remember that there are many other species that can do much of what we can—and many other things we can’t. It is good to embrace some humility.

Elephants are my favorite animals—for their size and beauty, innate intelligence, and matriarchal structure.

Do you love them too? If so, or even if you just want to know more about these utterly unique creatures and many more, you’ll want to read this insightful book. Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason was a forerunner in writing about socioemotional studies of animal behavior for lay readers.

This was the first nonfiction book I read years ago on this topic, and it remains the one that changed my worldview and approach to animal research, appreciation, and understanding.

The compromising of science in close-up, claustrophobic microcosm as determination to preserve reputation, funding, and status battles emerging, inconvenient, horrifying truth. I was gripped by the power struggle between the guru-like head of a chimpanzee research centre and a young uncompromising researcher observing chimp behaviour which does not fit the accepted narrative. It's incredibly specific and also at the same time incarnates something absolutely universal. I will never forget it – it got right into my head and stuck.

I was stunned by this book. So much is unexpected as we follow Rosemary in trying to make sense of her very unusual upbringing. I was laughing and crying and furious following the heartbreaking story of the sisters.

This book explores things I wouldn’t have suspected I could find interesting— but Wow! I was wrong. The journey of this narrator is unforgettable.