The Snow Leopard's New Friend
The Snow Leopard's New Friend: Eco-Tales from Tibet
Michael Buckley
ISBN 978-1-896559-77-3, 134 pages, illustrated, full colour, 7.5 x 9.25 in
Bronze medal winner in the 2022 Moonbeam Children's Book Awards, under the category of Environmental Issues
Three books rolled into one… The fabulous animals of the Tibetan plateau are unique in many ways. So is this book! The Snow Leopard’s New Friend is a grand introduction to the charismatic wildlife that has found ingenious ways to survive in this extreme high-altitude terrain—from the highly elusive Snow Leopard to the majestic Black-necked Crane. Featured are ten animal tales, with another dozen cameos by other species. These tales convey an eco-message about the need to live in harmony with nature, not fighting against it.
This work is actually three books rolled into one: the main section comprises ten animal tales, while part two features detailed profiles of the real animals, and part three is a resource section for following up with discussion questions and more. Along the way, you will be drawn into the mesmerizing landscapes of the Tibetan plateau—and drawn into the stark problems these lands face, from climate chaos to mining, deforestation and damming. Tibet expert Michael Buckley draws on his deep background writing about Tibet to portray these wonderful animals—with illustrations, artwork, photographs and cartoons from a variety of contributors that bring them to life on the page.
Written for kids 8 and up, this book can be enjoyed by animal lovers of all ages.
About the author
MICHAEL BUCKLEY is a Canadian photojournalist who has been involved in researching and writing about Tibet for over 35 years. He is, most recently, editor of This Fragile Planet: His Holiness the Dalai Lama on Environment (Sumeru, 2021). He has written a dozen books about the Himalayan and Southeast Asian regions, including Meltdown in Tibet, an exposé on China’s reckless destruction of ecosystems from the highlands of Tibet to the deltas of Asia, Tibet: the Bradt Travel Guide, and the digital photo book, Planet Ocean Blues. As a filmmaker Buckley is also well-known for his three short documentaries about environmental issues in Tibet.
TENZIN CHOEKYI was born in India. She grew up in Shillong and moved to Dharamsala. While recovering from an illness as a teen, she found drawing animals to be her great escape. This turned into a passion for art and drawing that she has pursued ever since. Her formal art training has been completion of a five-year course in Tanka painting.
About the cartoonist
ROHAN CHAKRAVARTY is an award-winning cartoonist and illustrator from India. He is creator of Green Humour, a series of cartoons, comics and illustrations on wildlife and nature conservation--which appear in newspapers, magazines and journals, particularly in India. His cartoons and illustrations have been used for projects and campaigns on wildlife awareness and conservation. His best-known book is Green Humour for a Greying Planet (India Penguin, 2021). The animals that Rohan depicts include Tibetan species that live in India’s northern Himalayan regions.
What people are saying
"I read The Snow Leopard's New Friend with my nieces and nephews. This is the first time the kids have seen all of the Tibetan Plateau animals represented in one book. As Tibetan children of refugees born and raised in the US, a connection to the Tibetan landscape can seem far removed. The Snow Leopard's New Friend brought the connection to Tibet closer for my kids. The Tibetan landscape, its flora, fauna, people, all came alive for the kids through these pages and I am very grateful. Now the kids remember the Tibetan animals through the book's stories and they make me read and reread stories again and again." —Tsechu Dolma, Tibetan environmental activist
“My son was very happy to see so many Tibetan animal pictures in the book. He is just 6 years old, so he can't read it properly, but his grandfather who is 83 years old helped him by explaining how those animals sound and what they eat and so on. Not only my son, both my parents also loved the book. Thank you so much!” — Dechen Palmo, environment researcher at TPI, Dharamsala [reading the Tibetan translation of The Snow Leopard's New Friend, published by the LTWA in India. Reading both the English edition and the Tibetan edition can facilitate cross-language connections for kids.]
The author has arranged for free delivery of class sets of the Tibetan translation of The Snow Leopard's New Friend to over 20 Tibetan schools and NGOs across the Himalayas. Shown in the photo here is SMD Boarding School in Nepal. Shree Mangal Dvip (SMD) Boarding School for Himalayan Children in Kathmandu provides free education, housing and full care for over 500 children from the most vulnerable and remote Himalayan mountain regions of Northern Nepal.
