One of my favorite book to read when I was young is Tippi Degré’s My Book of Africa. Tippi is a French girl who was born and spent her youth in Namibia with her wildlife photographer parents. As a 10 years old girl, Tippi talks sincerely about her dear friends from the wild life, the meerkats that her father documented, the elephants from the circus that she plays with, and the lion cub that she falls asleep with.
A large portion of the book consists of photos from Tippi’s parents, they captured many beautiful moments between Tippi and different animals living in harmony. As a young girl myself, I was fascinated by these stunning images. I would spend hours looking at the pages with animals living peacefully under Africa’s vast sky and longing for being there one day myself.
Tippi is my girlhood heroine because she strongly influenced my love for nature and animals. She showed me a natural love for animals. Tippi learned to speak their language, socializing with them with curiosity and respect, love them as friends but also respect their wild nature. She also taught me how to always enjoy, admire and be in awe with nature in life.
-Mengshu Ye
Junior Girl
Girl Museum Inc.