Giants In Size And Heart

On our planet, there is no larger land mammal.  It is said their ears are shaped like the continent on which they reside.  With their many-muscled (tens of thousands) trunks, they can lift hundreds of pounds.  Their leader is usually the oldest female; generations of knowledge passed from elder to elder in herds together for lifetimes.  Their ability to communicate with miles separating them is astounding.  Elephants, African elephants, are remarkable individuals.

One of their single greatest foes is humans.  One of their fiercest protectors is other humans.  The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship (Chronicle Books, May 18, 2021) written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Hadley Hooper is a tale of the interconnectedness of all living beings on our planet.  It spotlights remembered kindness and deep affection.

This is Lawrence.

He loves animals.

This is Francoise.

She loves Lawrence.

This is Max.

Together the trio live at Thula Thula.  There they have 

a farmhouse, a garden, a swimming pool, and 11,000 acres of African bush, savanna, and forest.

The fenced-in area creates a refuge to an assortment of African animals. Hunting is strictly forbidden providing a peaceful existence for the inhabitants.  Lawrence, Francoise, and Max dwell in consideration for all species residing there.

One day, a telephone call changes and challenges the way of life for Lawrence, Francoise, and Max.  A woman asks Lawrence to house seven unhappy elephants at Thula Thula.  If they cannot find sanctuary there, they will be shot.  Lawrence loves animals.  He replies in the affirmative.  A boma with fencing is fashioned for them until they get acclimated.

After their arrival by trailer to Thula Thula, some observers believe the elephants are trouble.  Lawrence believes they are nervous.  That first night, they destroy the fencing and escape.  Again, others believe they are trouble, even after they head to their new home.  Lawrence disagrees.  He promises their leader, Nana, he will stay with them day and night until they feel comfortable.  And he does.  He sings to them.  He tells them stories.  The elephants shift their sadness into happiness.

Surprisingly enough, Nana reaches through the fence one day and touches Lawrence's stomach with her trunk.  A bond is forged.  The elephants are released into the whole of Thula Thula, and Lawrence and Max go back to the farmhouse.  The seven visit the farmhouse, the garden, the swimming pool, and astonishingly enough greet Lawrence when he returns home from trips.  How do they know?

Years pass.  The rhythms at Thula Thula are wonderfully similar.  The elephants tend to now roam on the far edges of Thula Thula.  Some years they visit.  One day an overwhelming sadness descends on Francoise and Max.  Lawrence is gone forever.  The elephants know.  Their response to this knowing is an expression of great love.  

As you read the words written by Kim Tomsic, your world fades away.  You are in Africa.  You are at Thula Thula with Lawrence, Francoise, Max and the elephants.

With introductory, explanatory sentences we meet the people and animals living at Thula Thula.  This cadence established with specific words is repeated after the central portion of the story, the arrival of the elephants and their deepening relationship with Lawrence, Francoise, and Max.  This "bookending" gives readers a true sense of the elephants' acceptance of Thula Thula as their home. It also serves to widen the definition of home as not only a place but as people.  Readers are drawn more completely into the narrative by distinct details and dialogue.  Here is a passage.

Soon the elephants' cranky

behavior changes to

ear flopping, head

waggling, and trumpeting.

"What does it mean?"

Francoise asks.

"They're HAPPY," Lawrence says.

The scene on the open and matching dust jacket and book case, not only allows us to meet Lawrence and the elephants, but we are given a preview of the marvelous artwork and color palette used throughout this book.  In many of the illustrations, the hues of red and orange indicate the African habitats and climate.  On the front Lawrence is walking and chatting with Nana.  Across and left of the spine the landscape continues.  The additional six elephants are featured walking behind and along with Lawrence and Nana.

In lush shades of orange and red with details etched in black, the opening and closing endpapers present two different scenes along a river.  The trees and birds on the shore are reflected in the water like a watercolor wash.  In both sets of endpapers, another single bird appears in the water.  

These illustrations by Hadley Hooper were rendered 

using watercolor, ink, printmaking, and then finished in Photoshop.

There are dramatic double-page pictures, panoramic and bird's eye points of view, full-page images bringing us closer to the activities, horizontal panels of three on two pages, mixed panel sizes to depict things happening at the same time, and a group of three on one page to portray multiple circumstances.  Readers will pause at every page turn to enjoy all the details.  

Color choices throughout this book denote time of day and emotional moods of the story.  The dark greens and black inside the trailer with the elephants convey their curiosity and unease.  The gray, brown, black, and white used in the scene where the elephants break out of the boma fence at night is full of outrage and freedom.  More of the red and orange warmth comes into the pictures along with natural tones as the elephants decide Thula Thula is home.

One of my many, many favorite pictures is a single-page image.  It is for the words above noted.  It is a single setting but divided by what Lawrence is doing on the top half and what the elephants are doing on the bottom half.  It is night.  A crescent moon hangs in the upper right-hand corner above a tree-filled landscape.  A night bird sits on a branch on the left-side.  Under the light of a lantern, seated on a rock, Lawrence reads aloud from a book.  The elephants rest in a group, a few raise their trunks in happiness, and others snack.

As the words and artwork are given to readers, page by page, each one finds themselves entirely absorbed by this tale of wondrous creatures.  The Elephants Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship written by Kim Tomsic with illustrations by Hadley Hooper will find a permanent place in your hearts.  You can pair this title with Elephants Walk Together, How To Be An Elephant, The Elephant, If Elephants Disappeared and She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch for a fantastic story time or themed unit.  I highly recommend this book for your professional and personal collections.

To learn more about Kim Tomsic and Hadley Hooper and their other work, please follow the link attached to their names to access their websites.  There are interior images from this book at Hadley Hooper's site.  Kim Tomsic has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Hadley Hooper has accounts on Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.  Here is the link to the publisher's website.

Female Fortitude

Their earliest ancestors can be traced back at least 55 million years and are said to have been about the size of a present-day tapir.  Today despite being the largest land mammal on our planet, their numbers are diminishing.  Their existence is threatened by loss of habitat and by poaching for their tusks.  As a keystone specie multiple ecosystems rely on their presence.  

In a powerful new book, readers explore the realm of African elephants.  She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch (Familius LLC, May 26, 2020) written by June Smalls with illustrations by Yumi Shimokawara takes readers on a remarkable journey experiencing the many roles of a female elephant chosen to direct her herd.  We come to understand like all good leaders, she is first and foremost a teacher paving the way for future generations to thrive.

She is the queen.  The matriarch.

Following this first of thirteen statements about the attributes of an elephant matriarch, additional supporting facts and explanations are placed under it.  This information supplies a more in-depth look at each of the characteristics sometimes off to the side of the initial declarative sentence.  After the above-noted words, for example, a definition of matriarchal is given.  We learn this is often the oldest female elephant.  We are told female elephants are named cows.

Elephants live for generations in the same group unless it tends to get too large.  Male elephants, bulls, stay with the group until they are about thirteen years old.  The matriarch will show her family where to locate food and water.  Per elephant, per day, they

can consume up to 300 pounds of food.

That's a lot of food!  In their minds, they maintain a map of places to find water.  They are known to use any means they have to dig it up. 

When a new elephant is born after twenty-two months, all the females join in its care and protection.  Elephants welcome encounters with other groups, but are quick to protect babies when danger approaches, placing them in the center of the herd.  The loss of a mother to a baby two years old or younger is devastating.  If they are older, other females are likely to adopt them

Each baby learns from the older elephants.  They mimic their behaviors such as learning to use their trunks.  It takes considerable practice to use those 100,000 muscles when strength or gentleness are needed.  When the matriarch dies, elephants have been observed performing certain mourning rituals, even returning years later to touch the bones.  The new leader, an elder female, puts her learned talents to use.  Elephants have been known to communicate with other elephants over

110 square miles.

The matriarch speaks and others listen.


The narrative as written by June Smalls has large appeal.  For the youngest of readers, you may want to use the short narrative phrases in bold print initially.  If they have questions, you can move to the paragraph in smaller font on the same page.  This is a wonderful technique inviting multiple readings.  June Smalls knows her intended audience providing those facts which will satisfy their curiosity but also initiate further research.  Here is a sample sentence and the accompanying paragraph.

And who their friends are.

Sometimes those groups that had split apart will meet in the same areas and forage for food together.  These meetings are like a family reunion.  Everyone goes back with their own group when they leave.


The artwork of Yumi Shimokawara seen on the open and matching dust jacket and book case is magnificent.  Her elephant portraits here, and throughout the title, are exquisite in their detail.  The matriarch heading straight at readers on the front is majestic and formidable.  The smaller elephants on the side of her are exhibiting natural behaviors. 

To the left, on the back, we are very close to an adult female grasping grass in her trunk and bringing it to her mouth.  She is placed in the upper, right-hand corner with only a large portion of her head showing.  In the lower, left-hand corner a smaller elephant reaches for a leafy branch.  The words here read:

She is the queen.  The matriarch.
She leads her daughters
and their daughters.

Open your eyes,
princess.

One day you
will lead.

In a stunning design decision, in black and white, on the opening and closing endpapers is a close-up view of elephant skin.  It is also opposite the initial title page and the final image.  A female elephant is shown on both title pages as first a leader and then as parent teacher.

For many of the images white space or a lighter canvas act as an additional element.  Greenery figures prominently in several scenes.  The darkest background is for the loss of the matriarch.  Nearly everything is in hues of deep blue and gray.

The image sizes vary in tandem with the text, elevating it for readers and bringing us into the moment.  Sometimes only a portion of the matriarch is visible making her presence as grand as it is.  White egrets, common companions, are placed in several of the illustrations. 

One of my many favorite images is a series of three smaller pictures on two pages.  It shows younger elephants at play.  Each illustration has the animals on some grass, but they are otherwise surrounded by white space.  In the first, one elephant appears to be climbing on the other one.  In another picture a single elephant is waving a stick with one leg lifted.  In the third illustration an elephant is happily moving quickly with their trunk in the air as a bird flies near it.


This book, She Leads: The Elephant Matriarch written by June Smalls with illustrations by Yumi Shimokawara, focusing on the prominent female is informative and eloquent.  It clearly demonstrates in carefully selected facts and beautiful artwork the value of a female leader and her capabilities in the elephant world but will also instill courage in readers.  This will make a wonderful title to use with How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild (David Macaulay Studio, Roaring Brook Press, September 19, 2017) by Katherine Roy, The Elephant (Enchanted Lion Books, September 25, 2018) by Jenni Desmond, The Truth About Elephants (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, November 27, 2018) by Maxwell Eaton III and If Elephants Disappeared (Roaring Brook Press, August 17, 2019) by Lily Williams.  I highly recommend this title for your personal and professional collections.

To learn more about June Smalls and her other work, please access her website by following the link attached to her name.  June Smalls has accounts on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.  At a publisher's website there is an educator's guide and several views of interior images.  There are author interviews at KidLit411, author Cynthia Mackey's site, Picture Book Spotlight and Critter Lit.

Land Mammal Magnificance

When a planet is in peril, so are its inhabitants.  Humans and other living plants and animals have been and are facing challenges never experienced in previous generations. Even with their marvelous methods of adapting to survive, humans' companions, plants and animals, need us to make choices in their favor every single day.

A little more than two years ago the Great Elephant Census was completed and released.  It indicated the population of African elephants except for forest elephants, which are too difficult to count from the air, has diminished 30% in seven years.  According to a National Geographic post regarding the census about 27,000 elephants are killed every year, mainly from poaching. (If you want to make a comparison, look up the population of your community.  My community would be entirely eliminated five times in one year.)  It is believed the numbers for the Asian elephant population are even worse.

Author illustrator Jenni Desmond awakened and enhanced our awareness in her titles The Blue Whale and The Polar Bear.  In her newest title, The Elephant (Enchanted Lion Books, September 25, 2018) she again draws our attention to one of the largest animals on planet Earth.  Unless we are residents of those places where elephants reside in Africa and Asia, we will never see them in their natural habitat.  Jenni Desmond brings us to where they roam through her informative words and striking illustrations.

Once upon a time, a child took a book from the shelf and started to read.

The book he is reading is the one we are holding in our hands.  Already he knows they are the largest land mammals with extraordinary intelligence and remarkable memories.  Their minds allow them to find food and in the same spots from year to year.

African elephants and Asian elephants have similarities and differences.  Did you know their ears are shaped like the continents upon which they reside?  The trunks on African elephants are two-fingered as opposed to the single-fingered trunks on Asian elephants.  The tusks on African elephants grow and grow; the longer the tusks, the older the elephants.  Not all Asian elephants have tusks.

It's astounding to realize why a walking elephant appears to glide.  The bone structure causes them to walk on their toes.  Elephants' ears contribute to their exceptional hearing and work as cooling agents.  Their immense trunks not only complete monumental tasks but can pick up a tiny piece of fruit.

Elephants have a matriarchal society.  Males either lead a solitary life or live with other males.  Mother elephants are pregnant for twenty-two months.  For up to five years, a baby elephant will stick to its mother like proverbial glue.

Along with their massive size, elephants have a massive appetite which in turn generates huge piles of dung (300 pounds) per day.  They are known to travel great distances to find an abundance of water.  It quenches their thirst, keeps them cool and is a perfect place to play.

Elephants are a "keystone species," which means that their existence is uniquely important to other plants and animals. 

Elephants' treatment of those elephants who have died is reverent.  Their sleeping practices are unbelievable.  They deserve our respect and protection. . . now and always.


Jenni Desmond calls to readers with her first sentence.  We listen and lean in to hear the story she tells.  We follow the boy reading the book, along with us, as he steps into the world of elephants.  Facts are flawlessly integrated into the narrative.

We move from generalities to place of residence, physical characteristics and comparisons and lifestyle.  Jenni Desmond builds layer upon layer of information supplying us with a complete vision of these fascinating beings.  Here are two passages.

An African savanna elephant male, or bull, can reach 13 feet tall
and 24 feet long, and can weigh up to seven tons.  That's about the
weight of four large cars.  The females, or cows, are half that size.

Even baby elephants are big.  At birth, an African savanna elephant
calf can be 260 pounds, the weight of a speedy motor scooter.


The stunning enormity and beauty of the African savanna elephant is depicted with such clarity on the opened and matching dust jacket and book case, readers will find it hard not to gasp.  The stark landscape is pure perfection for displaying this elephant and his child companion, our guide in the reading of this book.  The setting continues over the spine to the left.  On the back elephant footprints lead from the edge of the gray (nearly centered) increasing in size until they move off the image in the lower, left-hand corner.

On the opening and closing endpapers very pale sky meets a very pale earth running along the lower fifth of the pages.  A tiny line of elephants ranging in age and size move along the right side on the front and along the left side on the back; as if they are constantly moving.  They also change positions on the closing endpapers apart from the matriarch, who always leads.

On the title page under the text the boy is marching and carrying a red teapot, cups, the book and his four stuffed-animal pals, an elephant, a polar bear, a whale and a tiger.  A single cup lays on the floor behind him.  With a page turn, he is cozily reading on a rug patterned in elephants.  His toys are seated on a small nearby bench with cups and treats in front of each of them.  The polar bear and whale have on hats.  The elephant has on glasses and the tiger is wearing a necklace.  To the left a fire burns in a fireplace shaped like an elephant's foot.  Readers will enjoy looking at the titles on the books on the shelf.  And what's that waving in the window?  Is it two elephant trunks?  This first illustration is one of my many favorite pictures.

With each succeeding page turn we step farther into the realm of elephants, viewing vast scenes dominated by their presence.  Maps indicate where they live.  Diagrams point out their physical traits. 

In the comparison with their height and weight four cars are stacked in front of a full-grown elephant.  The occupants of all four of them are a combination of animals and humans.  The boy rides his scooter into the next scene.  He tiptoes home into the kitchen to get a snack.  Photographs on the wall showcased by his flashlight explain the text.  The final photograph appears on the next page.

Jenni Desmond has a gift of connecting each illustration to the next.  Rendered in watercolor, acrylic, pencil, crayons and drypoint these visuals complement and extend the text bringing us close to a scene and then asking us to step back to get a larger picture or the reverse.  We are completely engaged and captivated.

When she closes with a nighttime illustration, the boy is hugging the trunk of one of the elephants.  In the distance a light is on in his home, which is above ground and shaped like an elephant.  In the final scene she zooms in and we sigh at the sight, like the darkness surrounding the savanna.


Recipient of four starred reviews and a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018 The Elephant written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond is a superb work of narrative nonfiction.  Pair this with Katherine Roy's How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild and you will have two quintessential titles on these amazing creatures.  I highly recommend this book for both your personal and professional book collections.

To discover more about Jenni Desmond and her work please visit her website by following the link attached to her name.  Jenni has a blog here.  She has accounts on Twitter and Instagram.  At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations. 


Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to view the titles selected this week by participants in the 2018 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

Majestic, Mighty Giants

They are the world's largest land mammal.  This is an amazing thought to ponder.  There is nothing bigger on this entire planet than they are.  The females live in herds and the males tend to remain alone.  Their lives can span up to seventy years.  Social bonding is nearly or as strong as it can be in humans.  Not surprisingly humans, even though their weight and height are considerably more than the average man, are their greatest threat.

We have continually encroached on their land diminishing their habitat size as we expand ours for living and resources.  Poachers still slaughter them in alarming numbers for their ivory.  African elephants are now listed as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (ICUN).  At the beginning of the 20th century there were millions and millions and millions of them.  They now number less than five hundred thousand.  The more we know, the more we can do to protect these giants.  In a dazzling array of art and words Katherine Roy gives us How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild (David Macaulay Studio, Roaring Brook Press, September 19, 2017).

WITH FLAPPING EARS and whiffling trunks, the herd quickly spreads the news.  After 22 months of growing, a new baby is on her way.

In eleven divisions, short chapters, many of them beginning with a page turn, readers are acquainted with this infant.  As she learns we learn how she will grow to become an adult member of the herd.  Of first and utmost importance is her family.

Matriarchal in nature, the members stay together forever.  Their combined knowledge will lead and guide the baby girl for the rest of her life.  They will help her balance on specially equipped feet geared for silence and speed.

Her nose, trunk, balances out her poor eye sight; food and water, family and friends and danger can be detected with a sniff of a whiff.  Her nose, having more than 100,000 muscles, functions as a tool most fabulous.  Did you know an adult elephant sucks up water in their trunk and then pours it into their mouth?  They consume up to forty gallons a day.

Both as a baby, and then as an adult, elephants have an expansive repertoire of sounds; each one used for a specific purpose.  As herbivores elephants are crunching and munching for most of their waking hours but babies have it a bit easier.  They are little recyclers.  (You'll have to read the book to find out more about this homemade baby food.)  Using ears better than air conditioning, taking mud baths, engaging in playful games to get rid of less than dangerous foes, and rumbling in the air and the ground are more lessons to learn.

The value of African elephants to the land on which they reside is intriguing and essential; a highly evolved relationship of give and take.  Their necessity for space is not only important to them but to other animals sharing the land with them.  We must adapt.  We must understand.  We have to learn.


Katherine Roy has taken her extensive research and personal experiences in Africa to write a completely riveting conversation about the lives of African elephants.  She informs us to the extent our admiration for these creatures grows as she presents particular fascinating facts.  Each chapter flows flawlessly into the next as one lesson builds on the other whether speaking about physical characteristics or behaviors.  The way Katherine Roy writes is like being a student in the best science class you ever attended.  Here is a sample passage.

REMEMBER THE LOUD, low-frequency calls that an elephant makes with her high-powered voice?  These rumbles fall below the range of human hearing and can travel much farther than higher-frequency sounds---up to 2 miles during the day and over 6 miles at night, when the air is cool.  Other elephants within range can hear the rubles as either sound waves in the air or vibrations in the ground, which they're able to detect with the tips of their trunks and the cushioned soles of their feet.


The majestic display of the African elephant mother with the baby across the matching, opened dust jacket and book case with some of the remaining herd in the background is not only breathtaking because of the subject matter but because of the masterful use of perspective.  The lines, light and shadow, color palette, and details all work to bring readers into the circumstances of what it is to be an African elephant.  On the opening endpapers it is before dawn.  Members of the herd are gathering for the birth.  On the closing endpapers we see Katherine and her guide observing from their vehicle a herd of elephants crossing a river in a line, the baby among them.

Each illustration rendered by Katherine usually spans two pages.  For those single page pictures, a smaller image or an explanatory diagram is placed on the opposite page.  These are carefully labeled to assist readers in terms they can understand.

As noticed earlier the point of view seen in these images literally bring you into the activities of the herd.  We gather when they gather, we watch in awe as many trunks reach out to touch a newborn, we quench our thirst either by kneeling and gulping or sucking water into our trunks and releasing it into our mouths, and we shelter in the heat beneath our mom with our ears flapping.  Every aspect of life is portrayed with realism and a heartfelt respect and affection is seen in every illustration.

One of my many favorite pictures spreads, without words, across two pages.  There is a golden glow to the entire scene indicting the time of day.  The entire herd is enjoying the benefits of mixing water and dirt in a water hole or along a river.  Adults are standing on the perimeter, some are lying on the bank, and the youngest, the baby, is splashing in total delight.  This visual articulates the social bonds and playful nature of African elephants.


How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild written and illustrated by Katherine Roy is not a book you can only read once.  You will read it repeatedly gaining insights and information.  A lengthy note from the author, selected sources, scientific articles, books, films, and websites are included at the close of this title.  Readers can further understand the extent of Katherine Roy's work by reading her acknowledgements.  This book is a must-have for all professional and personal bookshelves.

To learn more about Katherine Roy and her other work please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Here is a link to Katherine Roy's June Newsletter.  Katherine Roy talks about this book at School Library Journal.  At the publisher's website you can view interior images.  Author, reviewer, and blogger Julie Danielson features this title at Kirkus and her blog, Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.








Be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to enjoy the titles selected by other bloggers participating in the 2017 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.