A youngCanLit booklist for World Elephant Day: August 12

I know many a child and adult for whom elephants are a favourite animal. Celebrate the world's elephants and ensure their preservation and protection by instilling an appreciation for these gentle and powerful giants through these books of youngCanLit. Among the picture books, early readers, non-fiction, middle grade and even young adult, there is learning from information, entertainment through humour and much insight into elephants. In other words, there's something for every reader!


Board Books and Picture Books

Fatima and the Clementine Thieves
Written by Mireille Messier
Illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
Red Deer Press
32 pp.
Ages 5-8
2017
Reviewed here

 

My Dog is An Elephant
Written by Rémy Simard
Illustrated by Pierre Pratt
Annick
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
1994

Nancy Knows
Written and illustrated by Cybèle Young
Tundra
40 pp.
Ages 307
2014

Ollie
Written and illustrated by Paola Opal
Simply Read
24 pp.
Ages 2-5
2020

Paseka: A Little Elephant, Brave
Written by Ruth James
Illustrated by Kent Laforme
Page Two Books
978-1-989025420
32 pp.
Ages 6-10
2019
Reviewed here

Rhinos for Lunch and Elephants for Supper!: A Masai Tale
Written by Tololwa M. Mollel
Illustrated by Barbara Spurll
Clarion Books
32 pp.
Ages 3-8
1991

What Elephant?
Written and illustrated by Geneviève Côté
Kids Can Press
32 pp.
Ages 3-7
2006





Early Readers, Middle Grade Fiction and Young Adult

Big City Otto (Elephants Never Forget 1)
Written and illustrated by Bill Slavin
Kids Can Press
88 pp.
Ages 8-11
2011

Big Star Otto (Elephants Never Forget 3)
Written and illustrated by Bill Slavin
Kids Can Press
96 pp.
Ages 8-11
2015

Big Top Otto (Elephants Never Forget 2)
Written and illustrated by Bill Slavin
Kids Can Press
80 pp.
Ages 8-11
2013

Elephant Secret
Written by Eric Walters
Puffin Canada
352 pp.
Ages 9-12
2018

Follow the Elephant 
Written by Beryl Young
Ronsdale Press
248 pp.
Ages 10-13
2010

Ghost Boy
Written by Iain Lawrence
Laurel Leaf
252 pp.
Ages 12+
2002

Just So Stories (Volume I)
Written by Rudyard Kipling
Illustrated by Ian Wallace
Groundwood Books
64 pp.
Ages 5+
2013
Reviewed here




Non-Fiction

5 Elephants 
Written by Rob Laidlaw
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
88 pp.
Ages 8-13
2014

Animal Aha! Thrilling Discoveries in Wildlife Science
Written by Diane Swanson
Annick
48 pp.
Ages 7-11
2009

Animals That Changed the World
Written by Keltie Thomas
Annick
112 pp.
Ages 8-12
2010

Elephant Journey: The True Story of Three Zoo Elephants and their Rescue from Captivity
Written by Rob Laidlaw
Illustrated by Brian Deines
Pajama Press
40 pp.
Ages 8-13
2015

The Elephant Keeper: Caring for Orphaned Elephants in Zambia
Written by Margriet Ruurs
Illustrated by Pedro Covo
Kids Can Press
48 pp.
Ages 8-12
2017

Elephant Rescue
Written by Jody Morgan
Firefly Books
64 pp.
Ages 10-13
2004

Elephants: Life in the Wild
Written by Monica Kulling
Illustrated by Michael Maydak
Random House Books for Young Readers
48 pp.
Ages 5-8
2000

Endangered Elephants
Written by Bobbie Kalman
Crabtree Publishing
32 pp.
Ages 8-12
2005

Our Future: How Kids Are Taking Action (Kid Activists)
Written and illustrated by Janet Wilson
Second Story Press
32 pp.
Ages 7-12
September 2019

Welcome to the World of Elephants
Written by Diane Swanson
Walrus
32 pp.
Ages 5-11
2011

🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘🐘

Giraffe and Bird Together Again

Written and illustrated by Rebecca Bender

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-051-2

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

November 2018

Friends don't always see eye to eye, or nose to beak. But, sometimes it's because of these  differences that the friendship is made even more special. Little ones who know Rebecca Bender's other books in this collection, namely Giraffe and Bird (DCB, 2010), Don't Laugh at Giraffe (Pajama Press, 2012) and Giraffe Meets Bird (Pajama Press, 2015), already understand the basis for this extraordinary friendship. And, even with a plot that has Bird missing, you know Rebecca Bender won't disappoint her readers. She helps the two find their way back to each other.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

Bird loves adventures, Giraffe does not. But when Bird is absent for awhile, Giraffe begins to worry that something has happened to Bird and decides to follow the feathers. Even when he gets tangled in vines when searching through a dark forest, Giraffe is compelled to go on. Even when Giraffe goes up a craggy mountain upon which he tumbles backwards and needs the help of a couple of mountain goats, he is determined to find his friend. From his high vantage point, Giraffe glimpses a shiny sign and "a small and beaky someone next to it." Finding Bird stunned from a collision with the sign, both are happy to be reunited. Unfortunately, Giraffe fails to notice the quicksand nearby. Now it's Bird turn to help out. By distracting his friend and enlisting the help of others, Giraffe makes it home safely.

Everyone loves Giraffe and Bird. The two animals are so different yet so understanding and accepting of those differences. Giraffe stretches beyond his comfort zone to help his little friend, and Bird recognizes when Giraffe may be in need of help. Even in the end, the two find a compromise to help them continue to be friends and honour those differences. 

Bird will wander a little less...

if Giraffe will explore a little more.

 

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

One of the best elements of Giraffe and Bird Together Again is the artwork. Rebecca Bender's use of colour to place the reader in the forest, on the mountain and looking out over the plain is extraordinary. It's warm and rich in tone and evocative of a setting many of us in Canada will never experience. But, of course, it's her characters that draw the reader back every time. Generally using only body language and eyes, Rebecca Bender lets the reader see what Giraffe and Bird are thinking and feeling. Frustration, joy, distress and relief are all there in those few elements. It's impossible not to fall in love with Giraffe and Bird. Moreover with details like Bird hiding under a traditional Canadian work sock or Giraffe in knee pads and helmet or the weird assortment of detritus lodged in the quicksand, kids will seek and find and laugh.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

Rebecca Bender's Giraffe and Bird was recently honoured as the selection for the 2018 TD Grade 1 Book Giveaway. That means every child in Grade 1 in Canada should have received their own copy of that special first book (unless their school board sadly opted out of the program). The enduring affection between these two unlikely friends continues to endear them to young children, perhaps seeing something of themselves in Giraffe or Bird. Whether sensitive to teasing, or homebody or adventurer, there is something of everyone in these two characters, and we're so glad that Giraffe and Bird are together again.

From Giraffe and Bird Together Again by Rebecca Bender

Woodrow at Sea

Written and illustrated by Wallace Edwards

Pajama Press

978-1-77278-029-1

24 pp.

Ages 3-5

November 2017

Not since an owl and a pussycat set off to sea have two wholly unlikely friends shared a boat on the open water.  But the story of Woodrow at Sea is less love story than story of friendship and a far more poignant one than Edward Lear's nonsense poem.

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

When Woodrow, the elephant, waves goodbye to his family, setting off on his adventure with only a boat, a paddle and a spyglass, he could never imagine finding a small white mouse marooned on a purplish mound in the open water.  The mouse tells of his own tale of saying goodbye to his own family who gift him with a compass and heading out in a teacup vessel until upturned by a purple, gold and orange creature. 

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

Together the travellers set out to seek adventure, with the mouse teaching Woodrow to sing. When a foul cloud blows in nasty weather and the calm sea is awoken into turmoil, the little mouse uses the spyglass to rescue Woodrow. Together they battle their way to calmer waters and, though they both return to their different island homes, they're both richer for their encounter and adventures.

From Woodrow at Sea

by Wallace Edwards

Because Woodrow at Sea is a wordless book, author-illustrator Wallace Edwards allows his illustrations to carry the story.  But it really isn't just one story.  Everyone will read something different into his touching and considerate artwork.  Though less elaborate than his art in earlier books such as Once Upon a Line (Pajama Press, 2015) and Unnatural Selections (Orca, 2014), Wallace Edwards provides more than enough depth of detail for our youngest readers to interpret the illustrations in a myriad of ways.  They will easily recognize the value of friendship and teamwork but there will be questions.  Why did Wallace Edwards choose and elephant and a mouse? Are the elephant and mouse singing or whistling?  Does Woodrow know how to sing or did the mouse have to teach him?  Were the two animals planning on an extended adventure that was interrupted by calamity or were these just day trips? When recounting their adventures to family, why did they focus on different events though both emphasize the goodwill of the other?  For a story told with no words, Woodrow at Sea has much to tell.  And a lesson in creative thinking and visual literacy would not go amiss here.

Woodrow at Sea is truly a story about the importance of friendship and the good fortune of having a friend who has your back when seas get a little rough. It may not always be an angry ocean or a purple monster, but there's always something that is eased with the support of a friend.

From Woodrow at Sea 

by Wallace Edwards

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

Wallace Edwards will launch his newest picture book this weekend in Toronto. Details for this event were posted here.

Smiley: A Journey of Love

Written by Joanne George

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-412-6

56 pp.

For all ages

October 2017

Anyone who has ever asked me to review a book and to whom I have sent my review policy knows that I generally do not review books about animals.  It is far to difficult for me emotionally to know of the hardships that animals are enduring in real life and even in fictionalized accounts. If you look back over my years of reviewing, you could count the number of animal books I've reviewed on one hand. That said, I wanted to do a brief review of Smiley: A Journey of Love as it is a nominee of the 2018 Forest of Reading's Silver Birch Express Award.

Smiley's tragic beginnings start in an Ontario puppy mill where he was born without eyes and with genetic dwarfism.  He was rescued by the author Joanne George and others at the vet clinic where she worked.  I'm in sobbing tears recalling the horrors that that little dog must have endured when he and others were found. Fortunately, with much love and patience, Smiley was able to survive and flourish under Joanne George's care.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. - Aesop

The book, peppered with photographs and inspirational quotations, shares Smiley's story from rescue to rehabilitation, including surgery, training and introduction to new situations, places, other animals and people.

From Smiley: A Journey of Love 

by Joanne George

As Smiley becomes part of Joanne George's family and welcomes others into it–her husband and son come after him–the small Golden Retriever shared his wonderfulness with others by becoming a St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog.

The end result of kindness is that it draws people to you. - Anita Roddick

From Smiley: A Journey of Love 

by Joanne George

The process of becoming a therapy dog is involved but everyone knew that Smiley was special and would provide much comfort.  He could give that which he had been denied at birth but had had been nurtured through Joanne George and her family. From hospitals to nursing homes and seniors and children, Smiley has brought love and compassion and calm to those in need.

Smiley: A Journey of Love truly is a story of love, of two loving spirits, Smiley and Joanne George.

From Smiley: A Journey of Love 

by Joanne George

•••••••••••••

After posting this review, I learned that Smiley, who has his own Twitter account @Mysmileydog, passed away on October 14, 2017.  Do check out all the photos on his Twitter feed, of Smiley as a pup, meeting Justin Trudeau, being honoured time and time again.  Let me echo the sentiment posted the day after his passing: "I hope you are running free today, and you can see all the beauty in heaven."