Elephants Books

A wonderful read about all the important and interesting stuff. With handy meditation guides included.

At long last, a genuinely holistic discussion of the meaning of life, the universe and everything! This breathtakingly wide-ranging book takes in just about every discipline known to human thought, with a startling array of new insights that should be making scientists and philosophers around the world sit up and take notice along with the rest of us. Most importantly of all, this is not some abstract discussion - it is an urgent call to action. By turning every assumption you have ever held upside down, Paul Bailey shows how every single one of us has the power to make a real and significant difference, each moment of our lives.
If we are ever to start fixing the major problems we humans have created in our world, then this is just the kind of new way of thinking we are going to need. Anyone even remotely concerned about what the future holds for themselves and their children should read this astonishing book right now.

This book is stunning!!
A verbal chiropractic for the mind and spirit. There's a huge amount of information and insights on offer here. "Think of an Elephant" turns your head inside out and upside down, enabling YOU to turn your whole way of being around. If you want to help our species survive and start caring for all life on our beautiful planet then you MUST read it now! I'm not exaggerating. The reach of this book is extraordinary.
"When the student is ready....The teacher will appear" (ancient proverb).
Well, the teacher has appeared, and his name is Paul Bailey.

I have not read a more perceptive book that encompasses everything from environmental issues to the development of the self to quantam physics. Forget self help/self development, chicken soup, politically motivated social commentary. TAKE ACTION, have some balls and read Think of an Elephant. You can, and you have to, make a difference and, most importantly, you are able to, even if you don't know it yet.Paul Bailey has produced the most thought provoking, life challenging work and it needs to be read, discussed and actioned...before it is too late......tick tock....

Give this to anyone who is a softy at heart and who loves beauty, flowers, and poetry. Magical reproductions. Each page could be framed.

A precious friend gave this to me just after my father died last month. It was the most timely, wonderful thing I have ever received. It expressed her desire to comfort and protect me and her understanding that what I was going through wasn't easy....and there wasn't much she could do except show me she cared. What a gift.

As an artist and writer and avid reader; I love this book. I read it whenever I want to feel good. I can't wait until Christmas to give it to my artist friends. It is truly one of the most beautiful books I have ever seeen. The art images are beautiful and the spirit of the book is beautiful. I sent it to my new grandson and hope all these wishes come true for him. I can't wait to read it to him when he is older.

Have you ever experienced the strange sensation that a certain book on the shelves of a store or library has been sitting there waiting patiently for your arrival? It is almost as if the book were waiting there to discover you rather than the other way around. This was my own experience several weeks ago when I entered a small shop called "Through the Garden Gate," which is located in Red Bank, New Jersey. Once inside the shop, it was as if the book's title and cover caught my attention at the same moment. Once I had picked the book up and comprehended its significance, I knew I must buy it whatever it might cost. For me, this book illustrates and articulates the very finest sentiments one might wish to express to anyone one loves a great deal. In this instance, that someone was a newly arrived grand daughter by the name of Lily Grace. So I purchased the book at a very modest price and several days later had the privilege of reading it to Lily. This is indeed a very special book, a book created to be given. One would find it, I believe, both a joy and a blessing either to give or to receive, and that, dear reader, is my wish for you.

Thunderfoot the Elephant is a delightful booklet that is geared to children ages 3-10. It gives the child the opportunity to act out the sounds and actions of the animals. With a group of children a mini-play could be performed with them acting out the story. The illustrations in the book are well done. The story teaches tolerance of others.

Thunderfoot: what a delightful story. Each character has its own endearing personality, but Thunderfoot stole our hearts.
The story is fun and heartwarming, with a life lesson for both children and adults. And the illustrations are adorable.

My daughter loved it; we're waiting for a sequel

Cute story with a low key moral. Children will love the story and relate to the happiness of the ending, and maybe get their first inkling of what makes a good friend. Great illustrations, also.

I absolutely fell in love with this story. It is genuinely sweet and funny! I purchased it with the intent of giving it to my baby sister who immediately fell in love with Thunderfoot's character! She constantly asks for me to read it to her.

The story has a good message about acceptance and friendship, two values I believe in. The story was entertaining for the both of us to read. I think both parents and children will love this book :)

Tim Suermondt's "Trying to Help the Elephant Man Dance," reminds one of Luciano Pavarotti as the clown, Pagliacci, who sings beautifully with a broken heart. Humor, wryness, irony, and yes, sadness are all present in these poems. Suermondt has a unique, unassuming, yet powerful voice. "The Young Son Recalls His Dancing Parents," (pg.76) brought tears to my eyes. Very few poets can write wth such empathy as Suermondt about almost any subject, and speaking of poets, if you are one, don't miss out on the laugh-out-loud poem, "Fishing On A Sunday With Helen Vendler." Highly recommended.

Tim Suermondt is a wonderful poet who shows us the world from angles we never knew were there. Quirky, witty, true poems.

Tim Suermondt's poems in Trying to Help the Elephant Man Dance are rife with playfullness, wryness, and a kind of wacked-out romanticism that you'll find no where else in American poetry. There is also a great reservoir of hope, and dare I say it, sweetness, feeding every inquiry the poems make. Suermondt is a poet who isn't afraid to dream, and to dare, and we are his beneficiaries. Who says poetry can't be entertaining when it's asking the big questions? Buy this book. Read it. You'll be glad you did.

When reading Tim Suermondt's, Trying To Help The Elephant Man Dance, one never knows what character, living or dead, will pop into the mix--Nixon, the Mexican poet Lopez Velarde, the artist Giotto, Whitman, Marshall Petain, or the beautiful woman in a red dress. Sometimes, Suermondt grows wings and flies beside them as they peer down on an earth almost in ruin. No matter, he tells us, "Dope that I am, I never gave up hope." Often, in the midst of the mundane--the making of a grill cheese sandwich or meandering through city streets--someone will dance and no matter how awkward, how clumsy, Suermondt tells them that even the moon will be "jealous." This is not a sentimental book, though Suermondt does manage to capture those moments that make living possible and sweetness does infuse weary acceptance. What makes this book so intriguing is the intertwining of the possible with the impossible. These poems seem casual and are unpretentious and filled with bittersweet humanity; Suermondt is clearly a deft craftsman.

I find this colorful and well written book to be for all ages.
I met the author at a book signing and she is as colorful as the book. Makes a great children's present and for that matter for all. I have sent many to all the children I know because it makes a great read over and over again.

The only reason I know about this book is that I happened to meet the author and bought a copy from her at a local YMCA just to be supportive. I knew nothing about the book and wasn't expecting much since I hadn't heard about it before. Wow, was I suprised. I got home, read it to my (then) 2 1/2 year old and he and I fell in love with it immediately. He's 5 and still loves it. It's a sweet story, is beautifully illustrated, and has a lyrical/musical quality to the rhyming prose that is infectious. We've given this book as a gift 4 times, and each time it's been a hit. Several of the recipient's parents seem as suprised as I am that the book isn't more popular. I've bought tons of stuff on Amazon, and read countless of books to my son, but this is my first review. I like the book that much and think you will too. Ray

Everyone I have shown this book to has loved it! The story is written in a Dr. Seuss style and rhymes. The words flow and hold your attention. The illustrations are bold and bright and really help you to fall in love with the characters. One elementry school classroom I know of, did a whole project around it. Should be on every kid's and adult's bookshelf!

The story is sweet and the rhymes very fun to read. The illustrator, Mo Martindale, was a dear friend of our family. His illustrations are wonderful and add to the story. Sadly, Mo passed away September 8 at the age of 83, but he has left wonderful art work for friends and family to enjoy and remember him by. The illustrations for this book are one of his final legacies. It's a great read!

Photographer Gerry Ellis spent 2 years with the orphaned elephants of the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust at the Nairobi National Park in Kenya in order to document the rescues, daily lives and preparation to return to the wild for these young elephants who have fallen victim to natural and unnatural disasters. In the summer of 1999, prolonged drought and increased ivory poaching brought brought more orphaned baby elephants to the Trust in one season that it had seen in the entire previous decade. Gerry Ellis followed, photographed, and got to know 8 of the young elephants who were one month to one year old when they arrived at the Wildlife Trust. Through more than 100 photographs and accompanying text, we meet the "Orphan 8", learn of the challenges of raising them, observe as the youngsters recover from their injuries and fear, adjust to life at the Trust, develop relationships with one another and with their human keepers, and, after 2 years, move to Tsavo National Park, where they will eventually be released into the wild. An essay by Gerry Ellis introduces each of the book's 6 chapters. Detailed explanations accompany all photographs -not as captions, but full-sized text. I've long been a fan of Gerry Ellis' fine art nature photography, but "Wild Orphans" is fantastic photojournalism and more personal work than I have seen from Ellis before. Ellis' love for this project shows. Admirers of elephants and those concerned with their fate -or that of African wildlife in general- won't want to miss "Wild Orphans".

I love this book. The text was written by the photographer. The photographs alone are priceless. I think it is also a very valuable contribution to the ongoing oftentimes contentious debate about human intervention in the animal kingdom. This book makes an eloquent statement that there are times when it is appropriate to intervene, save the lives of the animals and educate humans on the importance of maintaining animal habitat in the process.

What I enjoyed the most was the gradual realization of the author that we are all connected - human and animal. We have created the conditions that are killing these animals through our unsound environmental practices. There is no conscionable way to turn our backs on the animals that are being forced to live in what we have created. We must admit our responsibility for the environmental chaos we have created and help where we need to. To simply look the other way as these elephants die and throw out the excuse that it's "nature", "the law of the land" or worse yet "survival of the fittest" is inhuman.

It is extremely touching. For those of you who can't tolerate another anthropomorphic happy-meal animal book, some die as they are being rescued and some after.

The information on GLOBIO and the work they are doing world wide is a valuable teaching tool for children.

Bought this for my niece, she loves it. Beautiful photography.

The photography is amazing and that alone is worth getting this book. However the stories behind each picture and story of each member of the Orphan 8 are extremely touching, and provide a wonderful insight between humans and elephants. It will leave you in awe of the difference the wonderful people at the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust make in this endeavor to help save the African Elephant.

this is hands-down the BEST qigong I've ever practiced, and I've practiced a lot (tai chi, xingyi, baguazhang, iron shirt, wing tsun etc.)

Buddhism, Qigong, the I Ching, and Chinese medicine have been integrally linked together for centuries. All these systems originate from a common theoretical view of reality and compliment, clarify, support, and occasionally challenge each other. Larry Johnson's 18 Buddha Hands Qigong examines Qigong in general, and the energetic transformations possible through these practices, exploring what is referred to as 18 Buddha Hands presents an intriguing perspective of the Yin/Yang mechanics of Qigong, within the manifold framework of the Medical I Ching. 18 Buddha Hands Qigong is highly recommended for students of Buddhism, Qigong, the I Ching, personal health from the perspective of Chinese medical practice and theory.

I thought the book was very well illustrated and easy to follow. I also bought the DVD and between the two was able to do the movements

Una bella historia sin lugar a dudas, Agua para elefantes sigue la vida de un muchacho en un circo, ahora ya en un asilo de ansianos este va contando sus aventuras dentro de este nuevo y fascinante mundo.

Agua para Elefantes esta muy bien escrito y no será facil dejar de leerlo.

Disfruten.

I loved the book. It was by far one of the greatest finds in the last years. It was funny, full of life and with an inocence that let you wanted more. Great book for everyone.
Uno de los mejores libros que he leido en los ultimos tiempos. Tierno, emotivo, gracioso en momentos y lleno de una inocencia que nos transporta. Este libro es genial y esta escrito de una manera especial. No puedes dejar de leerlo

What a terrific find !! I am an avid reader and do not often find a book that I simply cannot put down, but this is one of them. Great story and so well written that you can almost SMELL what's going on.
I sometimes read 3-4 books a week and rarely enjoy one as much as this. This book is for women AND men.

Sheila Haupt
Clarksville, TN

I've got a secret. Though your kids will love this book (mine did) it's not really for them--it's for all the longing for a night all to themselves. Though the Large family are elephants, you will relate to them all the way through. I love the clever illustrations--especially the look on Mr. and Mrs. Larges' faces when they finally slip out the door.


(This is the second book I've gotten in this series. The one I first read, "A Quiet Night in (Little Favourites)" is still my favorite).

The best children's books are ones which adults also love, because then we parents don't mind reading them over and over again............ All Jill Murphy's books are charming and funny , but her ones about Mrs Large and the elephant family are my favorites. I read them to my children when they were little and now my kids are reading them to the baby I care for.

I smile every time I pick up this book. The authors' sense of humor (she must be a mother) is evident in every page. As I got ready to go out to a special party, almost all the events in this book actually happened! This book you can read to your kids over and over (especially since you can rant and rave when you are reading the part of Mrs. Elephant ;-) )

Parents and teachers of emergent readers, it doesn't get better than Elephant and Piggie books! This new release just joined the others in the series as my kindergartners' favorite books to read and reread. They love the tender friendship of Gerald and Piggie and love to read Gerald's gray text words and Piggie's pink words in deep elephant and squeaky pig voices. Brief, easily memorized text and lots of high frequency words make these books highly successful for early readers. Can't wait for the two new releases in March and June!

Mo Willems is one of the best writers in children's literature today. The Elephant and Piggie books are great for little ones learning to read. Mr. Willems has a unique gift for making books with few words and simple illustrations laugh-out-loud funny.

My 4 year old daughter loves all of the books and has most of the Elephant and Piggie books memorized. She loves to read them aloud. She also loves to look for the sly appearances of characters from the other books that Mr. Willems includes in every book he writes.

Bottom line: Great books for kids and fun for Mom and Dad, too.

The first grade readers I share these books with adore them! They were so excited to see a new adventure. Living in rainy Seattle, my readers can identify with Piggie's frustration about not being able to enjoy playing outside on a rainy day. As always with the Elephant and Piggie series, the expressions on the faces of the characters, the clear body language, and the simple-- but wonderfully funny-- dialogue help early readers experience all the drama and humor as they read the story.