"The Magnificent Migration,” by Sy Montgomery.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston, 2019, 153 pages, Grades 7-9.
The vast Serengeti Plain extends from Tanzania to Kenya. It is approximately 100 miles wide and slightly over 200 miles long. The shores of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, form its northern boundary. In this vast area, lions, elephants, leopards, impalas and wildebeests live.
By far the most numerous, the wildebeests make an annual migration on the Serengeti Plain that is awe inspiring. Sy Montgomery writes about this exciting event in the excellent nonfiction book, “The Magnificent Migration.”
For centuries, the annual journey of all the magnificent animals has taken place. The author traces the migration through the eyes and experiences of a number of scientists, biologists, photographers and adventurers. Since the animals are in continual movement during the passage, the explorers must be ready to move at a moment’s notice. There are few passable roads in the Serengeti, necessitating four-wheel drive vehicles. The animals know where they are going on the trek, but the people following them can only guess. This makes the process somewhat hit and miss.
The most experienced scientist in the group, Dr. Richard Estes, is a world-renowned expert on wildebeests and has made the passage many times. But even with his knowledge, Dr. Estes still takes some guesses. As the travelers continue following the herds, they sometimes miss the route. But how can this be when there are 1,250,000 wildebeests and thousands of antelope on the move? That, of course, is the problem: the animals move rapidly and the voyagers keep missing them by days or sometime by hours.
But groups this massive will eventually be found. After several days, the explorers find themselves in the midst of the gigantic herds of wildebeests, impalas and antelopes. The animals are joined during various parts of the trek by giraffes, rhinos and hippos. All the time, skulking along the boundaries of the herds are lions, leopards, cheetahs and hyenas. When the herds reach the rivers in the Serengeti Plain, they must quickly cross or be attacked by crocodiles.
Finally, the migration comes to an end. The voyagers have seen spectacular sights, suffered dangerous vehicle breakdowns in lion and hyena country and survived the stings of the voracious tsetse flies. However, they have learned many other things about the relationship of the African environment, encroaching development and the fragility of this stunning world. What caused this?
What is it like to be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of wild animals? Which are the more ferocious animals, lions or hyenas? What happens to animals that get sick or injured on the journey? How do all the animals contribute to the continuation of the Serengeti Plain?
Would you like to see this spectacular event? Why did all the people in the book decide to go? To find out the answers to these and other questions, go to the library and check out “The Magnificent Migration” by Sy Montgomery.
The writing in this book is outstanding and the photography is remarkable. Montgomery gives readers the feel and sense of the migration and the majesty of the Serengeti Plain.
There are several mild profanities in the text and one scientist, upon finding a badly injured wildebeest, issues an agonized, “Oh my God.” However, it doesn’t seem to me like she was taking the Lord’s Name in vain but rather calling upon God’s assistance in this tragic situation.
Having said that, the book is of the highest quality. The photos are stunning and readers will feel that they too have made the migration. I hope you get a chance to read this book and share it with older readers. I learned much from it and think you will, as well.
