Elephants Books

Law for the Elephant is an incredibly well researched work that deserves much attention. If the myth of the lawless trail riders perpetuated by pulp fiction scribes yet infiltrated the ranks of professional historians up until the publication of this work, this book was their death knell.
Reid methodically debunks one of the most commonly misunderstood aspects of mid nineteenth century life on the Overland trail. His exhaustive use of primary sources and his meticulous notes must brand this book as the definitive work on the subject of property and social behavior on the overland trail from a legal perspective. The weight of evidence regarding the relative lawfulness of the travelers is such that, as presented, nearly half way through the reader is inexorably swayed to its veracity. Reid presents not a modicum or even generous amount of proof, but a crush of evidence. The fact that he was only able to locate three specific journal entries of lawlessness regarding property, while it does not suggest there was not more, is significantly persuasive. The fact that he is able to logically illustrate that these cases of lawlessness may be shown as examples of how legal theory and values were imbued within the lawbreakers, is doubly clever.
Although not a scintillating read, Reid displays a certain deftness for keeping the readers attention through what could have been far drier material in the hands of one not so gifted with the pen. His assemblage of innumerable primary sources is a praiseworthy accomplishment. Quotes from primary sources are woven consistently and seemingly effortlessly throughout the text, creating a patchwork of storytelling by case study.
This is not to say, however, that this is an entertaining read for laity or even the armchair historian. Reid occasionally slips into legalese that may momentarily obfuscate the read for even the professional historian, but a standard or legal dictionary remedies this. Also, Reid believes the average American on the trail possessed a greater knowledge of the law then than previously thought. Although this may be the case, some of what Reid chalks up to proof of extensive legal knowledge seems no more than ordinary common sense on behalf of the traveler. In a broader sense, to be fair, Reid does not delve deeply into criminality other than in regard to property. But, conventional wisdom suggests that the two are closely linked and thus, Reid obliquely strengthens his argument by this subtle correlation. These few minor criticisms notwithstanding, as a work of legal historical scholarship, Law for the Elephant is nearly flawless and is a significant contribution to the historiography of the overland trail.

The Overland Trail that spread to the gold fields of California and Oregon was a trying ordeal; it tested the will and endurance of the American character. The experience of the trail not only shaped America geographically, but socially, politically, and economically as well. The trail also shaped another American institution: law. Law and the Overland Trail is a topic that deserves greater study to determine charaterisitcs of the overland trail and the development of law in America. Law during antebellum America focused on capital speculation and corporate structure, and a bed of safe property law allowed corporate proliferation to occur. Reid examines inherent social and legal developments of the Overland Trail with great detail by examining a plethora of sources. He examines diaries, papers and other records for inferences to legal conduct. Reid explores the use of property law on the Overland Trail. He concludes that property law was something that was inherent to Americans in general, and not something forced upon them by corporate America (p. 335). The trail is unique in American legal history, because it shows how Americans administered law in a lawless land. Reid starts the book with general assumptions about the trail, emigrants and jurisprudence. He notes that the emigrant is a typical American: man women, child, old Young, ethnic, educated and uneducated. This mass of humanity seeking a new existence, in a place presented as a paradise, was not a lawless immoral group as legend, and some scholarship dictates. In assuming so, Reid states that, "Easily overlooked is the possibility that law could be the common denominator, explaining both the definitions people shared and the conduct they followed" (p. 10). Reid examines a common thread: property rights. The remainder of the book examines the interrelationships, uses, and behaviors associated with property and property rights. He notes that the creation, operation, and dissolution of joint stock ventures operated with a high degree of jurisprudence. An interesting aspect explored is the concept of ownership. Except for natural resources such as water, property was an abstract concept. Emigrants abandoned property as the hardships of the trial demanded, to avoid liabilities associated with traveling weight. Emigrants obtained supplies by barter, or by acquiring discarded property (p. 293). Reid notes that the transfer and handling of property, whether by and individual, or partnership was peaceful, and rarely was violence employed as a means of resolution (p. 341-54). Reid concludes by stating, "Instead, they respected the rights of property owners much as if still back east in the midst of plenty. By respect for their neighbor, and their neighbors property, they were, more than not, adhering to a morality of law" (p. 364). Law for the Elephant is an excellent macro interpretation of property, legal, and social relations of California gold rush emigrants. Another advantage the work provides us is an understanding of why current views of property came to be. The research is well covered, and the readability of the book is excellent. The book not only provides generalizations about law and the Overland Trail, but gives insight into how emigrants acted at the micro level as well.

Little Elephant Thunderfoot is born to a loving Mother in the wilds of Africa, where he soon realizes that his grandmother, Wise Old One, is the leader of the herd, as well as the eyes and ears for every elephant who happens to be a part of the pack. Little Elephant Thunderfoot adores to be near Wise Old One, as she teaches him a great many things, and even plays games with him and the other baby elephants from time to time. However, one day Wise Old One sounds the trumpet alarm, then falls to the ground, and stops moving. Little Elephant Thunderfoot and the rest of his herd are now forced to leave their beloved leader, and set out on a journey to find a new herd that they will be safe with.

Sally Grindley has a lovely talent for writing wonderful children's book featuring baby animals, as well as an important message. The message contained in LITTLE ELEPHANT THUNDERFOOT is that of death. Her prose is well written, and will appeal to young children, while John Butler's illustrations are breath-taking and will capture their attention from the first page to the very last. Overall this is a gorgeous new book that is perfect for all, especially families trying to teach their children about death.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

Thunderfoot is a baby elephant who is nurtured by his mother and grandmother, the latter being the matriarch of the herd. He soon learns that his grandmother makes sure the elephants are aware of danger and helps them find food and water. When his grandmother is shot by a poacher the herd runs to safety and he finds that all of them must adapt to losses and carry on. To quote the authors: 'Elephants, the largest land animals, are strong, intelligent, peaceful and fun-loving. The oldest female leads the herd, normally made up of daughters, granddaughters, sisters and their offspring. They all help to look after the youngest elephants. The males grow up within the herd, but leave to live on their own when they are about sixteen years old.' I have noticed that the most tireless workers in any group are the women. They are the ones who nurture, educate and guide the 'elephants' under their care. We males like to trumpet and make a lot of noise, but we do very little compared to our female counterparts. Buy a dozen of this wonderful book and give them to people you appreciate, who work, sometimes without credit given to them, for your comfort and welfare.

With some of my favorite gay mystery writers (such as Nava, Craft, Wilson and Stevenson) having concluded their long-running series, I have been looking out for possible replacements from lesser-known authors. I ran across the "Detective Lane" series (only two books, so far) written by Garry Ryan, a high school teacher in Calgary (Canada) who wanted to depict the diverse community in which he lives.

Detective Lane (the author apparently isn't real big on last names, so most characters are identified just by their first) is well known in the Calgary Police Department, both for being an excellent detective who specializes in missing persons cases as well as being one of the few openly gay members of the force. The latter has made him a target of occasional harassment by less-enlightened fellow officers, and made him a bit of a loner, who originally worked primarily by himself, occasionally aided by his life-partner Arthur, who worked from their home. It's a nice neighborhood, despite a busybody next door neighbor with a secret of her own.

In "The Lucky Elephant Restaurant", Lane and his police partner Harper investigate a case in which a popular right-wing religious talk show host, Bobbie Reddie, has her young daughter and estranged husband found dead, an apparently murder-suicide in burned SUV. But forensic tests provide conflicting information, and further investigations lead Lane and Harper to similar fire-related deaths in Reddie's past, with intentionally destroyed evidence and animal cruelty providing additional clues. Meanwhile, Lane's cozy home for two becomes a home for four, as Arthur's sister Martha, who has cancer, and her teenage son Matt come to live with them. Ultimately, an estranged brother of Reddie provides some insight into her past, but Lane and Harper can only question him through an attorney paid for by his mysterious "Uncle" Tan.

While this is not a sequel to his first book, "Queen's Park", it does continue the development of characters introduced in the first, and, in my opinion, both books should be read in order in order to better enjoy them. While I enjoyed both very much, I agree that this is the better of the two, and give it my highest rating possible of five bold stars out of five.

The second Detective Lane mystery is even better than the first, and that's saying a lot. Several of the characters who appeared there show up here, and we get more hints that something happened to scar Lane during his childhood. The plot itself is almost an inverted mystery, since Lane very early becomes convinced a mother is responsible for the deaths of her four-year-old daughter and her ex-husband. He is now concerned with gathering proof fast in order to protect her clearly tramatized young son, but he is being hampered by an orchestrated campaign to convince the public the Calgary police are harassing the popular talk show host and religious leader. Meanwhile, Lane's lover, Arthur, has agreed to take care of his nephew while his mother undergoes treatment for cancer. As new guardian, Lane becomes a referee for ice hockey and protector of the boy, suffering physically from incipient cerebral palsy and emotionally from an abusive father. We also get many glimpses of the Vietnamese community in Calgary. All this may sound like a lot for such a short novel, but the various stories flow together beautifully as Lane and his partner, Harper, pursue the truth before anyone else can get hurt. Amid all the darkness, there is also more than a little humor.

I am not sure whether my words would be enough to explain how good this book is.Mr Thomson is higly qualified man,most of the other African titles becomes like ''mumblings in Africa ''(I said MOST not all)compare to this one.It has everyting,it is so well written after reading the book you feel like a old time elephant hunter with knowledge of everthing abouth the elephants.one problem with it after you've read this one it is hard to read another African title.
Read it you will see what I mean.especially if you are considering an elephant hunt somethimes in your life.My personal thanks to this very honourable man Mr.Ron Thomson ,sharing his most valuable information with the readers.

Brilliant account from a highly qualified author ,of the devasting impact excessive elephant populations have on the habitat; intelligent rationale why they must be culled ; and first -hand accounts of elephant hunting. A MUST READ for any serious conservationist

This book is from 1985.
It contains the title selection and 11 others, including 'Rubber Soul' and "Concordiat to 'Rubber Soul'", which is of interest to Beatles fans.

There is also a story about a time-traveling gangster called 'Chronic Offender'. In this story, on page 124, he uses the word 'muggles', which is pretty funny.
This is a good book to complete a Spider Robinson collection.

For anyone who has driven the back routes of New York, hoping to be lucky enough spend an evening at Callahan's. If you dream of being a stardancer, or even just living to see one.... BUY THIS BOOK! I know, it may be out of print, and there may be some lead time on getting it, but each and every story is worth the wait. "Half an Oaf" will have you in stitches as it looks into the possibilities of time travel available to the masses. "High Infidelity" is a bawdy tale, which hilights the joy of a relationship that WORKS. The title story poses some very pointed questions about the nature of art and creation in a world flooded with information. If you love the way Spider tells a tale, these tales MUST become part of your collection.

My son is two and he already loves to hear this story from start to finish. The colors are bright and cheerful and Merwin is really funny. The vocabulary is appropriately challenging for kids 4-8. I am buying a copy to send to my 5-year-old nephew for his birthday.

I read this book to my 4 year old and she loved it! She got a real kick out of the fact that none of the adults could see through Merwin's disguises when it was so obvious to her who he was. The humor is very silly and perfect for that age group.

I have the distinction of having the first printed copy...Brandon takes the confines and reverses the mirror. The only cliche is the form of the book, it is a consumable resource needing to be sold, if only, to pick the pocketed minds of former, lovers, friends, and the satchel laden God who designed Wilding for what he is: Profound.

A remarkable read, and one that has remarked an otherwise lazy posture in this former dare-devil.

This book has 60 poems that change what poetry has become. Wilding does not hold back and does not let form or structure control him. He is the moral driven version of Charles Bukowski. I have only had this book for a week and I have read it three times. This book sets the standards for what poetry really should be.

Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant
At last! This is the first high quality book of Muslim literature for children about a story from Islamic history written in vivid, compelling style, and on top of that, accompanied by an audio telling (not 'reading', but authentic 'telling') that will delight and fascinate children of all ages. The illustrations seem loud, over-done and cliche. Nevertheless it's a beautiful hard-cover book, one your children will want to read again and again with or without the CD, improving their grasp of well-written English along the way. As for the CD, even very young children love the language and walk around repeating parts of it as they listen...the best language instruction you could ever give a toddler. Last but by no means least, the story is carefully researched and verified by scholars of sunna and tafsir. Hopefully there will more books like this one.

My husband and I purchased the audio recording of this story when our daughter was about 15 months old and I played it almost every day for a few weeks. It was the first recorded story that I ever played just for her and I wasn't sure how she would react. She LOVED it! Even though she was too young to understand the content of the story, she would obviously be paying close attention to the sound effects and the voice of the storyteller. She would bounce up and and down to the beat of the drums, and repeat "Allah!" whenever she heard it being said in the story. Playing the story would almost immediately quiet her if she was feeling cranky and put a big smile on her face especially as she "danced" to the drumbeats. Now, as a 20-something-year-old adult, I have to say that I was a bit surprised by how much *I* really enjoyed the story! I am not ashamed to admit that I actually cried during my first listening of the story because of Mehded's vivid descriptions and storytelling style. A few of the more dramatic points in the story got me quite emotional! I read the book after listening to the story many times and was mildly disappointed by the illustrations because I had already developed very detailed images in my mind of the whole story. But the book is still great for allowing young readers to review and retell the story in their own voice and is a fine example of a beautiful Islamic story in very descriptive and well-written English--definitely a must-have book for one's growing children's library. Additional positive aspects of the book and recording include the fact that they teach the reader/listener about the history tied to a chapter of the Qur'an and about reliance on God when facing any difficulty. PLUS the story is very well researched and has been checked by reliable scholars. Overall, Miraculous Happenings in the Year of the Elephant--both the book and recording--are great tools for developing your and your child(ren)'s love for reading stories and storytelling, while learning about Islam and developing love for God and the Prophet Muhammad at the same time. Look out for other books and audio stories by Mehded such as Bowing of the Stars (an audio story about the Prophet Yusuf (Joseph)--yes, I cried listening to this for the first time, too!). May God continue to bless Mehded's storytelling!

These Carl books are wonderful - not many words but lovely pictures. My 2 year old great-granddaughter makes up her own stories to the pictures. Teaches children to be creative.

This is a "puppy book" (similar to a baby book) to record the precious days of puppy youth. This is a wonderful thing to get for a new puppy owner. There are places for a lock of puppy hair, the ad from when you bought your puppy, how many brothers and sisters, first birthday, first holidays, lots of spots for pictures, paw print and so much more. It's full of pretty little water colors too. In addition, you recieve a pretty little gold medal (made of metal) for your puppy. I highly, highly recommend this book. I intend to give one of these with each puppy that we raise when they go to their new home.

This book speaks for itself

I have found Nicola Upson's book on the sculptures of Helaine Blumenfeld one of the most remarkable art/coffee table creations I have ever come across. Why? Because it is such an incredible combination of first rate photographs, highly intelligent and well-written text, and superbly crafted marble and bronze sculptures by an artist who obviously can think as well as sculpt. (The jacket says she was a professor of philosophy & that may explain why she is so verbally fluent.) What amazes me is that this book has not received a prize for the best art book of the year? (Maybe it has and I have not found it?)"

Maayan Becker-Reshef.