If You Were an Elephant by Leslie Staub; illustrated by Richard Jones; published July 20, 2021

This book is filled with fascinating facts about elephants! It is written in a lyrical style that is not quite rhyming; instead the author uses words that sound alike or share vowel or consonant sounds so the words almost feel like they rhyme. It was a joy to read out loud!
Staub's book presents facts about elephants - how they behave, bond, and remember. Our next book relates the true story of a herd of elephants that actually do all of the things mentioned in Staub's book.

The Elephant's Come Home: A True Story of Seven Elephants, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship by Kim Tomsic; illustrated by Hadley Hooper; published May 18, 2021.

I loved this extraordinary story! It is definitely one of my favorites for the year. Lawrence and Francoise (and their dog, Max) live at Thula Thula - a game preserve in Zululand in South Africa. (You can go visit, if you like!) One day, a ranger calls Lawrence and asks if he would take on a small herd of elephants. Lawrence has no experience with elephants but the ranger explains that these elephants are very angry because they have been hunted and that the local village officials are going to kill them because angry elephants are dangerous elephants. So, of course, Lawrence agrees and the elephants come to Thula Thula. Initially the elephants are still angry and break out of their enclosure. Then it is a race to see if Lawrence and his rangers will get to them before the hunters and poachers. With a lot of patience and compassion, Lawrence manages to forge a strong, enduring bond with the elephants.  In addition to the lovely story, Hadley Hooper's illustrations are extraordinary. Her color palette helps accentuate the mood of the story as it progresses.

I really hope this book makes it onto a lot of lists this year! It would be a perfect Bluebonnet nominee. 

 

 

Leslie Staub's book If I Were an Elephant was one of the books Penguin Random House sent me and it was true serendipity that I read it right after Tomsic's book!  These two books go together so well! Thanks Penguin Random House!