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.

Lessons From A Gorilla #2---The True Story

On January 28, 2013 I, like many others around the world, was unable to attend the American Library Association Midwinter Meeting And Exhibits in Seattle, Washington. I was however sitting in front of a computer screen listening intently to every single word during the Youth Media Awards ceremony. For the first time in my life when the winner of the John Newbery Award was announced I burst into tears.





Katherine Applegate's book The One and Only Ivan (Harper Collins, January 17, 2012) (my review) is one of those books you will always remember reading for the first time.  You will read it more than once.  You will probably also listen to the audio book.  I knew I needed to share it with as many of my students as possible.  When Ivan passed away I wrote a post, Ivan, Katherine Applegate and Mr. Schu, talking about the impact of reading this aloud to our entire fourth grade student population.  Attending the American Library Association Annual Conference & Exhibition Banquet to hear Katherine Applegate give her acceptance speech was definitely a lifetime highlight for me.



On October 7, 2014 Katherine Applegate continued the story of Ivan with the release of a new picture book.  Ivan The Remarkable True Story Of The Shopping Mall Gorilla (Clarion Books, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) with illustrations by G. Brian Karas.  It is a worthy companion making Ivan's story accessible for a larger audience including younger readers.

In leafy calm,
in gentle arms,
a gorilla's life began.

When Ivan's story began he had no name.  He was part of group, a family, of gorillas living their lives in central Africa among the trees of a tropical forest.  As a young gorilla he played with and watched and learned from the other members, sometimes riding on his mother's back.

Before he was old enough to know fear of humans, he and another young female were captured by poachers. They were placed in a crate and taken to Tacoma, Washington.  They had been purchased like things by a man who owned a shopping mall.

At first due to their size they were treated like human babies and children, even given names after a contest was held.  The young Burma did not survive for very long.  Alone and growing larger Ivan was placed in an enclosure at the mall.

His singular life was not that of a normal male gorilla, a mighty silverback.  Within the confines of his cage he sometimes watched TV, played with a tire and finger-painted pictures using his thumbprint as a signature.   After many, many years of this existence people, children in particular, began to protest against his treatment.

After twenty-seven years in this environment in Tacoma, Washington, Ivan was placed in Zoo Atlanta, Georgia.  Under the care of professionals he became accustomed to his new home until the wonderful day he got to see grass and sky and be present in the company of other gorillas.  How fitting that Katherine Applegate dedicates the book

For everyone who loved Ivan

I believe the love for Ivan will continue to grow as others learn his story through this book.


With the same adept use of words found in her Newbery title, Katherine Applegate brings the facts of Ivan's life to light.  Each sentence, simple enough for her audience to understand, evokes understanding and compassion.  Older readers will notice the authenticity of her research.  Here is a sample passage.

Ivan was about thirteen
when his coat began to shimmer
with silvery-white hairs.
He'd grown into a silverback gorilla.
In the jungle,
he would have been ready 
to protect his family.

But he had no family
to protect.


Through multiple character sketches, viewing videos and spending a day watching gorillas in a zoo habitat, G. Brian Karas is able to open this book with the close-up of a baby gorilla being held in the arms of a caring adult as seen on the matching dust jacket and book case.  Sky blue opening and closing endpapers compliment his scenes from the African jungle and to me signify freedom lost and freedom found.  His artwork of the tropical forest continues, framing the title page, verso and dedication page.

Karas alters his background colors, cream, white and taupe, to assist in creating an atmosphere.  His illustrations vary in size to heighten the emotion behind the truth of the text.  A full realistic color palette enhances his artistic style, his use of lines and shading, to create a wonderful visual memory for readers.

Two of my favorite illustrations are very moving.  Both cover two pages edge to edge.  The first shows the tiny baby gorillas inside the crate, the darkness surrounding them, as the journey is made from Africa to the United States.  The other is of Ivan at Zoo Atlanta on the day he first steps outside into his new home.  He is seated his silverback to us, looking over his shoulder.  The contrast between these pictures is evident; showing two sides of humanity.  I'll take the one signifying hope.

Ivan The Remarkable True Story Of The Shopping Mall Gorilla written by Katherine Applegate with illustrations by G. Brian Karas is not only a must read but a must own.  The care taken by these two gifted creators in the field of children's literature is obvious on every single page.  Photographs of Ivan are included on the back of the jacket and cover, at the end of the story and as part of the pages dedicated to the author's note.  The final page is four paragraphs from Ivan's keeper, Jodi Carrigan, at Zoo Atlanta speaking about their relationship and the importance of Ivan's life.

Please follow the multiple links in this post to gather more information about both of the Ivan books, the author and the illustrator.  Of particular importance is the blog post written by G. Brian Karas.  It speaks about his process in creating the illustrations for this book.

I am happy to participate in Alyson Beecher's 2014 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge hosted at her blog Kid Lit Frenzy each week.  When I went to link up with the other bloggers, I noted several others talk about this same book today.  Alyson highlighted it last week.  Make sure you read all the wonderful posts.