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.

In Their Thundering Footsteps Our Future Lies

There will be times when the title of a book alone brings you to tears.  The thought of the words becoming a reality is too painful to envision.  As a child you believed you might never see certain animals because they lived on continents or habitats far removed from yours.  As a much older adult you know you might never see them because they have gone extinct . . . because of humans, their greatest threat.

This coming Friday, September 20, 2019 and next Friday, September 27, 2019 mark the Global Climate Strike where young people are inviting everyone to participate.  Our planet and all its inhabitants are in trouble.  In the third book in her series (If Sharks Disappeared Roaring Brook Press, May 23, 2017 and If Polar Bears Disappeared Roaring Brook Press, August 28, 2018) author illustrator Lily Williams shifts her focus to one of the largest land mammals. If Elephants Disappeared (Roaring Brook Press, August 17, 2019) addresses in a frank, easy-to-understand narrative how vital these creatures are to one essential environment, the tropical rain forest.

THIS IS THE CONGO BASIN FOREST.  It's a
complex ecosystem filled with many different
types of landscapes, plants, and animals.

A variety of animals live here but one of the smallest of the largest land animals is the African forest elephant.  As the smallest it still can rise to ten feet tall and weigh a staggering 11,000 pounds.  They are known as a keystone species.  Every single thing they do affects their habitat.  If they're gone, the tropical rain forests in Africa would be altered into something entirely different.

Did you know these elephants eat hundreds of pounds of food every day?  Did you know they can walk thousands of miles each year to find food and water?  Their poop, dung, holds a multitude of seeds which repopulates the flora of tropical rain forests in Africa increasing the biodiversity as they move from place to place.

It's shocking to note that from 2001 to 2018 sixty-two percent (62%) of their population has diminished mainly due to poaching. 

In a carefully explained chain of events, we read if they disappeared, their dung which fertilizes the seeds it carries would disappear.  Without the array of plants certain animals wouldn't have food to eat or homes.  Without these over 40 species of plants, big trees would rule the landscape, changing the entire habitat.  Now the tropical rain forest is truly in jeopardy.  With no plant diversity or animals, what do you think happens next?

When one ecosystem fails, it spreads to others.  Our entire planet would feel the absence.  In closing we are reminded elephants are still found in the African tropical rain forests, but we need to raise our voices to protect and preserve them.  We are all connected.


The technique used by Lily Williams to provide facts is meticulously clear.  She begins with an overview of elephants, even briefly describing their evolution, and then proceeds with their place as a keystone specie, how they eat and the value of their dung.  After speaking about their shrinking population, she starts a series of paragraphs paced as page turns and ending with the words if _____ disappeared.  This adds an engaging rhythm while informing readers, leading us to the startling but truthful premise based on scientific evidence.  Her concluding pages supply readers with hope and encouragement.  Here is a passage.

If plant biodiversity disappeared . . .  (page turn)

the large trees would take over the forest.  Though large trees reduce harmful greenhouse gases in the atmosphere by capturing carbon in the air and storing it, they also depend on fast-growing smaller plants to create biodiversity in the forest.  Larger trees would dominate the forest, crowding out space for themselves and other species.  The change in plant life would affect the forest soil, causing erosion, flooding, and even differences in the amount of rainfall the area gets.


Upon opening the matching dust jacket and book case the rain forest location moves first to the right flap edge and then over the spine and to the left flap edge.  This expanse draws us into the experience with the featured children, not only here but on other pages within the book.  Lily Williams has etched an outline around the elephant to indicate its possible disappearance.  Here shades of green in the variety of plants and trees and brightly hued small insects create a credible atmosphere.

To the left, on the back two smaller elephants, also outlined in white, follow the adult.  A snake hangs from a tree branch.  On the left end flap a group of elephants walks in the distance.

On the opening and closing endpapers a spectacular view is shown.  Everything is in black except for the water and sky.  Shades of pink, orange, yellow and a bit of white color those spaces.  Edging the water are hills and the rain forest.  On the left a tree and plants provide framing.  In the water the adult elephant leads the two smaller ones, trunks to tails, connected in security.

Each page turn reveals a two-page picture with shifts in perspective.  We are dazzled by a birds-eye view of elephants making their way through the forest and a close-up of an elephant's head.  Readers will find themselves looking at additional details and smaller elements in the images.  They will enjoy the tiny bit of humor, too.

One of my many favorite illustrations is for the text quoted previously.  In a series of panels of the same area, which looks like a continuous picture, the changes by the lack of plant biodiversity are obvious.  As your eyes move from left to right, animals and plants except for the large trees vanish.  Little if any light gets through the treetops.  You can almost hear the lack of life, a stifling silence.


Essential for all personal and professional collections, If Elephants Disappeared written and illustrated by Lily Williams will linger in all readers' minds long after the book is read.  Lily Williams includes a Glossary, All Elephants Are In Trouble, Tropical Forests, How You Can Help Save Elephants, Author's Note, Acknowledgements, Bibliography and Additional Sources on four final pages.  They are wonderfully conversational.  You could pair this title with How To Be An Elephant: Growing Up in the African Wild (David Macaulay Studio, Roaring Brook Press, September 19, 2017) written and illustrated by Katherine Roy or The Elephant (Enchanted Lion Books, September 25, 2018) written and illustrated by Jenni Desmond.

To learn more about Lily Williams and her other work, please follow the link attached to her name to access her website.  Lily Williams has accounts on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.  At her site and the publisher's website you can view interior images.  You might like this article in Publishers Weekly titled Lily Williams Continues Her Environmental Mission.


For more nonfiction titles, be sure to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to see what other participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge have chosen this week.

And Nothing But The . . .

There are two things which happen when readers are hooked on a series.  The first is a growing excitement for the next installment.  It builds until we hold the next volume in our hands.  The second thought ever present in our minds is we don't want this to end.  We enjoy it completely and without reservation.

If laughter as an element figures in our appreciation for a collection of titles, this collection becomes more firmly cemented in our desire for it to continue endlessly.  On February 27, 2018 two titles were released which not only inform readers but entertain us and promote further research as well.  These books, The Truth About Bears (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press) and The Truth About Hippos (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press) written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III are seriously fantastic.

This is a bear.
I'm Pete.

In tandem with each stated fact, more than one on most pages, bears are commentators declaring obvious details but also providing comedic responses.  Other animal characters you might find in the appropriate region chime in with their insights.  Additional information appears as captions or in signs.

We quickly learn standing polar bears are eight feet tall, actual bear claws are several inches long and the three most common bears are American black bear, brown bear and the polar bear.  Koalas, residents of Australia, are not bears.  Bears have voracious appetites.  Did you know they can eat thousands of berries in one day?

Bear newborns are so small they weigh less than a guinea pig, but a full-grown bear can rival a small car in weight.  Hibernation, the value of fur and bears under threat are discussed.  Hints about safety around bears are given.  Here is an example of the blend of facts and dialogue on two pages.

Polar bears eat seals.  They smell them
through the seals' breathing holes
in the ice and snow.

Sometimes they smash the ice and grab them.

You should probably turn the page. (polar bear)
Please don't. (seal held in polar bear paw)


This is a hippopotamus.

H-I-P-P-O-
T-Z-O-6-3

Hippo
for
short.

Did you know there are two kinds of hippos; common hippos and pygmy hippos?  Their weights are compared to four cows versus one pig.  That's a huge difference.  They both live in Africa but tend to enjoy other areas; water and grasslands contrasted to mud along rivers and lakes close to the cover of dense forests.

Pygmy diets are more varied.  Common hippos have long, long teeth and mouths that can lay almost flat when open.  And you don't want to be near them when they relieve themselves of their waste.  YUCK!  Did you know hippos can't swim?  How do you think they move in the water?

One of the hippos prefers resting in groups, the other alone in the shade.  Night is when hippos are on the move.  The daylight hours are for taking it easy.  Both, common and pygmy, hippos need protection from hunters and habitat destruction.  Here is a factual and dialogue passage; some in narrative, some placed on signs and speech balloons.

Common hippos and pygmy hippos
both spend their days resting.

HIPPOS ARE NOCTURNAL.
THAT MEANS THEY SLEEP ALL
DAY AND STAY UP ALL NIGHT.

Common hippos stay in the 
water in large groups.

Has anyone see
this calf's mom?

She has
smooth
gray
skin.

A GROUP OF HIPPOS
IS SOMETIMES
CALLED A BLOAT.


Happily, for readers of the series a third title was released on May 8, 2018.  The Truth About Dolphins (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press) with artwork and words by Maxwell Eaton III will have readers captivated as soon as they see the cover.  By the first page, they'll be reading as fast as they can.

This is a dolphin.

Hello. (dolphin)

Yikes! (girl seated in inner tube in water)

<---common i="">
Common
bottlenose
dolphin (arrow points to dolphin)

For the first several pages comparisons are made between dolphins and fish.  Did you know one swims by moving their bodies from left to right and the other moves their tails up and down?  Dolphins are mammals; traits in support of this are disclosed.

There are more than forty species of dolphins with one of them weighing 12,000 pounds.  You can go almost any place on our planet and find dolphins.  They are skilled hunters working together in groups.

They are one of few animals employing the use of echolocation.  Their communication techniques are masterful so is their desire to play.  Both help them to avoid enemies like sharks.  Their worst enemies are us.  Here is one of the humorous combinations of text and conversations.

Dolphins eat mostly fish and squid.

Atlantic 
spotted dolphin

That was close. (arrow points to hiding squid)

They hunt in groups, called pods, by
using their eyes, ears, and one
very special ability . . .

Left, right,
left, right, left,
right, left, right,
left, right, left,
right, left! (says a group of six fleeing fish)


When The Truth About Elephants (Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals) (A Neal Porter Book, Roaring Brook Press, November 27, 2018) written by Maxwell Eaton III was released this autumn, readers wondered what would be revealed.  What factual items would this author illustrator include in this book?  What would the elephants and other animals say in response?

Here comes an elephant.

Boom Boom Boom
Boom Boom Boom Boom
          Boom

Actually,
I'm a
human. (says a little girl who doesn't see what is behind her)

With the first declaration about elephants being the largest land animals, all types of comments are made along with supporting documentation.  A white rhinoceros and a common hippopotamus (who we've already met) are not too happy.  A blue whale peeks through a circle in the page to add elephants are not the largest in water.

We learn of the development of elephants, their current relatives and the types of elephants.  The Asian and African elephants are shown side by side with their differences noted.  The finer points of trunk use are disclosed.

Their tusks and molars come in handy for an array of activities.  Did you know these herbivores spend about eighteen hours a day in the act of looking and consuming food?  Family hierarchy, communication, and herd defense work is explained with examples.  Here is one of many blends of truth and playfulness.

Elephants' teeth are also unique.  Long
tusks are used to dig for roots, scrape bark
from trees, and defend against predators.

He 
tried to
eat me. (baby elephant now on mother's back)

Kids,
right? (alligator trapped beneath mother's tusks)

ELEPHANTS' TUSKS NEVER STOP GROWING.  THE OLDER
THE ELEPHANT, THE BIGGER THE TUSKS!


As an illustrator Maxwell Eaton III begins his pictorial interpretations immediately on the matching dust jackets and book cases of all four books.  His word play is evident in the opening comment on the front of each.  The images with verbal comments, text or sound effects on the back make reference to the hilarity or theme found within the body of the book; car driving bears, bicycle riding hippos, dolphins and diving with scuba gear and elephants and jazz music.

The opening and closing endpapers are bright solid colors.  On the initial title page each specific animal makes a factual or funny statement.  This is expanded on the formal title page, a double-page picture, with results certain to cause readers to smile or burst out laughing.

Maxwell Eaton III alters his illustration sizes in order to heighten and complement his narrative, captions and conversations.  They range from double-page visuals, single-page images, or several pictures gathered together on one or two pages.  Elements from one illustration often overlap another image.

The facial expressions on all the animals convey exactly what they are thinking or saying.  These add to the truth and prevalent comedy.  At the close of each book spread across two pages is an open file labeled on the tab with the animal name.  It contains habitat facts, tracks, field notes, size, a territory map or other pertinent pieces of information like elephant toenails and further research opportunities for children and adults.  This is followed with a final one-page image guaranteed to generate giggles and grins.

There are many, many favorite illustrations in each book.  In the bear book when we are being informed about bears' food it mentions rodents.  A bear is not sure what a rodent is.  A squirrel points to a rock and says it's a rodent.  In the discussion about hippo waste elimination the backside of a hippo faces us.  A small bird on top of the hippo states this is why he is where he is.  When we are learning about dolphin communication two dolphins are shown at rest underwater.  One says a sound is like a particular third dolphin.  The second dolphin says this third dolphin still owns him three squid.  Being educated about four gigantic elephant molars in their mouths invites a small bird standing on a ladder and leaning toward the open elephant mouth to make a comment.  Holding a toothbrush, he knows a bigger one is needed.


The mix of factual and funny information, commentary and illustrations is a huge invitation for readers of all ages to read The Truth About Bears, The Truth About Hippos, The Truth About Dolphins and The Truth About Elephants all part of the Seriously Funny Facts About Your Favorite Animals series written and illustrated by Maxwell Eaton III.  These will be great and welcome nonfiction read-aloud selections and research titles.  You will need multiple copies of each volume. I highly recommend these for your personal and professional collections.  It appears a fifth and sixth book are coming in the spring and fall of this year.  Fans of crocodiles and hawks will be happy.

To discover more about Maxwell Eaton III and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  Maxwell Eaton III maintains an account on Instagram and Twitter.  You can view interior images from Bears, Hippos, Dolphins and Elephants at the publisher's website. There is a wonderful, older interview with Maxwell at author, reviewer and blogger Julie Danielson's Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast.  Maxwell Eaton III is featured in the Lake Placid News about his books.


Remember to visit Kid Lit Frenzy hosted by educator Alyson Beecher to note the other titles chosen this week by participants in the 2019 Nonfiction Picture Book Challenge.

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.

To Be Free

When you are no longer aware of the sounds around you, the hum of the air conditioner, the buzzing of bees, the roaring of  lawn mowers or the whine of boats on the lake, but are in a place seven thousand plus miles away where it's hot and dusty, among a people whose culture and day to day living is unlike your own, you are lost in a book.  But are you truly lost?  No, in a good author's care you follow the map of the story's events carefully laid before you, shadowing the characters, getting caught up in their life travels.

Chained (Margaret Ferguson Books, Farrar Straus Giroux), a first novel by author Lynne Kelly, begins in a small, rural village in northern India; poverty and illness are no strangers to the people there.

The flood left, but the fever stayed.

Chanda, ten-year-old Hastin's younger sister, is hovering on death's doorstep.  Amma, their mother, takes a job to cover the cost of her hospital care fearing they may loose her as they did her husband and Hastin's father.

Discovering his mother's employer to be abusive Hastin seeks a job to free her from these obligations.  He is wooed by the owner of a circus who seeks his services as an elephant keeper.  The promise of more than enough money to pay the debt, despite being away from home for a year, sounds good to a young boy with more trouble than someone his age should have.

Leaving the only environment he has known, Hastin finds himself surrounded by the green of jungle many days away from his family.  Arriving at the circus Hastin finds it, like the owner, his elephant trainer and the elderly cook, not as he expected.  After a trap is dug and hidden Hastin, watching the elephants daily, becomes attached to the herd giving them names.

When a young female, Nandita, is captured, riddled with guilt Hastin pledges to give her the best of care and find a way to unit her with her family.  Timir, the circus owner, Sharad, the elephant trainer and Ne Min, the Burmese cook, all harbor secrets; secrets which drive their actions, shape their personalities.  Very quickly Hastin realizes to save himself from this servitude and Nandita from the tortuous training, he must find a courage he is not sure he has.

As the days, weeks and months pass Nandita and Hastin develop an inexplicable understanding which can grow between humans and animals, knowing in their heart of hearts they would protect each other with their very lives.  Pressure to perform, escalating events, and a real fear of being trapped in a never-ending nightmare push all the characters to their limits; some with evil intent, others to be what is best in human nature, to make wrongs of the past right.  In an ending where bravery overcomes fear, death renews life and the price for freedom is paid readers' hearts will pause in anticipation and swell in celebration.

Through the careful research of Lynne Kelly readers become aware of a very real portrayal of life in India for children and elephants.  Through her attention to detail readers are swept up in Hastin's and Nandita's world; heart's aching for their suffering and taking comfort in the bond forged between the two.  In the skillfully developed character of Ne Min, Kelly has given the two a mentor filled with a wisdom born from experience; holding the key to their survival.

Readers will come to know through Kelly's narrative, while Nandita is the one wearing visible chains, other characters are chained by greed, fear, grief and poverty.  Cleverly each chapter is headed with a statement from Care of Jungle Elephants by Tin San Bo giving insight into their nature and keeping but also providing readers with questions.  A talented wordsmith, to be sure, here are a couple of examples of Lynne Kelly's writing from this title.

Never have I seen this much green.  One tree blends into another, and another, so I cannot tell where one tree ends and the next begins.  Green surrounds me with leafy walls, covers the ground below me, and hangs over my head in a canopy of branches.  It is beautiful but it is not my home, with its browns of rust-tan mud and sand and thatch.
I hear the elephants before I see them.  The snapping of twigs and rustle of leaves catch my attention.  Then I see the waves of gray weaving through the trees in front of me.

The old man and the elephant stare at each other.  "Her eyes are sad," he says.
So are yours, I want to say.
He takes Nandita's trunk and holds it out to me.  "Here, blow into the end of her trunk."
"Why would I do that?" I ask.
"To help her remember who you are.  Their sense of smell is strongly tied to their memory."
I do as Ne Min says.  He pats Nandita on the back, and she rolls to her side.
"How do you know so much about them?" I ask.
"I am old.  I know everything."

With intent and heart Lynne Kelly leads readers into Chained, a captivating tale of India, a boy and his elephant.  We willingly follow her words giving ourselves over to the road she paves toward freedom.  Thank you Lynne Kelly for this book; strength, devotion and love triumphant.  

To read further about Lynne Kelly follow her website embedded in her name above.  Lynne was gracious enough to recommend two interviews which provide background into the writing of Chained linked here and here.




UPDATE:  This morning, August 12, 2012 Lynne Kelly posted a link on Twitter leading me to this documentary about elephants in Thailand narranted by William Shatner.  It is informative and deeply moving.  Pair this with her book and your students will have much to discuss and ponder.

Mothers Never Really Leave

Through acts demonstrated again and again in all walks of life, love is truly the tie that binds.  One of the strongest loves is between mother and child.  For that reason a child, when faced with the loss of a mother, is frightened; a space once full is empty and what was normal is not.

Author/illustrator Gianna Marino in her newest title released this spring, Meet Me at the Moon (Viking, March 22, 2012), uses the plains of Africa as a backdrop for a story of love. 

Beneath the shade of the baobab tree, Little One sang, the calling song, and Mama came with a loving nuzzle.

It is in this closeness that Mama tells Little One she must go, climbing the tallest mountain to seek from the skies rain for their parched land.

Naturally, Little One doesn't want Mama to leave but she tells her child her love is everywhere, surrounding Little One.  She reassures Little One's questions with replies reflecting this belief; hearing her song on the wind, feeling her love in the sun's warmth, and seeing the same bright star in the night sky.  When Little One wonders how Mama will find Little One again, Mama says:

"When the night sky is bright, Little One, meet me at the moon, where the sky touches the earth.

With final spoken words of love, Mama leaves on her journey.  In her absence the young elephant listens to the wind, searches the starry dark and feels the warm of the sun knowing Mama's love.  Days pass with the land ever growing more dry.

Rains finally pour from the sky but Little One is unable to hear Mama on the wind, see their star or without the sun, feel her love.  As the sky clears, evening descends with the moon rising.  But how is Little One to reach the moon so high?  Remembering, a song floats into the night air.

Gianna Marino's text in this gentle story has a lyrical rhythm; as if one were reading a poem.  Mama's answers to Little One's doubts are exactly as one would expect from a creature close to the beating heart of Earth.  Readers will find comfort in the narrative as well as an expression of faith and hope.

In an interview given at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Marino describes her process for creating the mixed media paintings for this book also including the story behind this story.  Front endpapers show a glowing orange sunrise sky with the rolling plains in silhouette along the bottom.  A deepening night sky is depicted on the closing endpapers signifying a passage of time.

Throughout the story all the visuals are panoramic, two page spreads conveying the vastness of the setting.  Rich, warm hues of red, orange, and yellow dominate the pages with the land changing color indicting the presence or lack of rain.  The larger than life place of the sun and moon on many of the pages, a circle, illustrates the "no beginning, no end" idea of the love between Mama and Little One.  The final illustration of the pair beneath the moon continues that shape with Mama encircling Little One.

The illustrations of Little One and Mama are not done with them in isolation; zebras and giraffes are in constant motion in the background or framing the mother and child.  Knowing Little One is alone they are given a larger importance in the paintings.  Expressions on the faces of all the animals are a thing of beauty.

Meet Me at the Moon by Gianna Marino is a marvel of breathtaking detail set among the savannahs of Africa conveying the link of love that separation can not break.  Paintings and text work as one telling a story, timeless and true.  Share this book with everyone, with someone you love.