Elephants: A Book for Children

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The Elephant’s Secret Sense: The Hidden Life of the Wild Herds of Africa- Caitlin O’Connell (2008): Catlin O’Connell’s fascinating story of her unexpected discovery of a previously unknown mode of elephant communication Elephant Memories: Thirteen years in the Life of an Elephant Family- Cynthia Moss (2000): Her chronicles of the lives of the elephant members of the T families- a glimpse into their everyday life and what makes them who they are.

And finally, if you are looking for a truly unique gift, consider buying something from Poo Poo Paper. They make surprisingly lovely notebooks, notecards, and craft paper from elephant, cow and donkey poo. Hey…it’s sustainable! More Books Featuring Animals Through the Eyes of Ernest: A Memoir to Honor Elephants- Debbie McFee (2013): A somber but ultimately hopeful tale told from an elephant’s point of view, Through the Eyes of Ernest asks us to consider why we keep such intelligent, social animals in captivity.

If you would like to learn more about elephant conservation, you would be hard pressed to find a better organization than Save the Elephants. Ian Douglas-Hamilton is the premier elephant conservationist and his team in Kenya lead efforts for not only their HQ in Kenya’s Samburu Reserve, but around the world. If you are a traveler, I would strongly discourage you from participating in tourism that involves washing, walking or riding elephants. Many of these programs have very fraught ethics and it’s difficult to tell the good from the bad. Topsy – Michael Daly (2014): In 1903, an elephant named Topsy was electrocuted on Coney Island. This book discusses the historical forces that conspired to bring Topsy, Thomas Edison, and those 6,600 volts of alternating current together. Gods in Chains – Rhea Ghosh (2005): The book hopes to highlight the conditions of captive elephants as they are currently used and kept in India. Initially started as informal documentation, Gods in Chains later expanded to become a handbook of sorts, for anyone wanting to know more of the reality behind the veil of glamour and majesty of the captive pachyderm, especially in temple rituals and festival processions. The often troubled and complex relationship with their only companion, the mahout, is also a story of pathos and heartbreak for a deeply social and community-minded animal. An Elephant in the Room: The Science and Well-Being of Elephants in Captivity – multiple contributors (2009): A look at the different issues that elephants face in captivity. Different topics are taken on by different contributors in the animal/elephant field.

It is absurd for a man to kill an elephant. It is not brutal, it is not heroic, and certainly it is not easy; it is just one of those preposterous things that men do like putting a dam across a great river, one tenth of whose volume could engulf the whole of mankind without disturbing the domestic life of a single catfish. Animal Liberation- Peter Singer (2001): A work that has been described as ‘groudbreaking’ in exposing people to the existence of ‘speciesism’-our systematic disregard of nonhuman animals. Discusses the reality of factory farms and product testing procedures and their alternatives. Elephant Talk: The Surprising Science of Elephant Communication – Ann Downer (2011): (grades 3 and up) This book discusses the complex system of communication elephants use- including sounds humans can hear, nonverbal behaviors too low for human ears and what they mean. Elephants have created their very own sunscreen!After a river or swamp bath, they’ll throw mud and sand up and over themselves to protect their skin from the hot, burning sun. Clever!

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Next of Kin: My Conversations with Chimpanzees-Roger Fouts (1998): For 30 years Roger Fouts has pioneered communication with chimpanzees through sign language–beginning with a mischievous baby chimp named Washoe. This remarkable book describes Fout’s odyssey from novice researcher to celebrity scientist to impassioned crusader for the rights of animals. Starting with the story of her revolutionary discovery that elephants use infrasonic sounds – sounds below the range of human hearing – to communicate, Payne shares what she learned from her fascinating field research in Africa. Research that reveals new insights into elephants’ social lives. When five of the elephant families she studies are the victims of culling, Payne’s approach to her research changes. She fights valiantly to protect the elephants. Leaving Time- Jodi Picoult (2014): A story about a young girl whose mother mysteriously disappeared in the wake of a tragic accident at an elephant sanctuary. The story follows the tragedy and the child’s quest to find her mother, but also goes into depth about elephants, their emotions, and their stories, both in the wild and in captivity.

An Elephant’s Story – Jamie Renee Heraver (2018): (recommended ages 6-12 ) An Elephant’s Story is a beautifully written and illustrated book for animal lovers everywhere! A young girl has a magical connection with an elephant while visiting a sanctuary and suddenly realizes she can hear his thoughts. She learns what the life of a working elephant is like as he shares his life story with her. One of redemption and love, this book will empower readers to think compassionately with an open heart toward all living beings as they are invited to see the world from the eyes of an elephant. The Elephant Whisperer is a heartwarming, exciting, funny, and sometimes sad memoir of Anthony’s experiences.Modoc is a true animal story detailing the life of a young boy and an elephant that formed a bond that would last their entire lives. I suppose if there were a part of the world in which mastodon still lived, somebody would design a new gun, and men, in their eternal impudence, would hunt mastodon as they now hunt elephant. Impudence seems to be the word. At least David and Goliath were of the same species, but, to an elephant, a man can only be a midge with a deathly sting. We have given short descriptions and broken the books up into categories, so if there is something specific you are looking for, it’s easier to find. Some people want to educate themselves more on the broad range of subjects involving elephants, while others just want to get lost in a story that brings them closer to elephants – so we took that into account.