Elephants Books

Elmer's Weather is a great little book. I'm trying to teach my son Italian and am always looking for books like Elmer's Weather. I'm grateful for the translation and it is also fun and colorful! We laugh at Elmer's funny glasses every time. I will continue to look for more in the series. Thank You Amazon for carrying Italian language books!!

This title is wonderful and sweet, and the translations are fun. My son loves the illustrations and laughs when we read each page in italiano. Ci piace!

Elmer the elephant is an adorable character for toddlers. In this book, the multi-colored elephant incounters a different weather conditions on each page. From windy to snowy to sunny, toddlers learn about the weather in a simple, brightly colored format. My 19 month old son adores Elmer and insists on taking this book to bed with him each night.

A co-worker pointed out this story to me...We both felt that the book is really not appropriate for very young readers. While it is simply written, a story about starving elephants to death simply cannot be recommended for readers under the age of 10. Not only is there not a happy ending, the manner in which these creatures were treated is totally in-humane.

I read this book with my 9 year old daughter....and we both cried....tears dried up but the pain lingered....
Why, oh why, did these animals have to suffer so much, they had'nt wronged anyone, they were not at war with anyone, papa? They needed to be looked after by humans, who had bought them here against their will, and those humans decided their fate with death? Why could'nt they be let loose in a jungle?
My daughter consulted an atlas, looked at the map of Japan and asked why could'nt the animals be taken to some remote part of the country which was less likely to be effected by war? Why was not the enemy told to stay away from the zoo which housed so many helpless and innocent animals, and for this the zoo could have been highlighted by placing lights or lighting fires all around it's boundary? Why did'nt mother nature come to their rescue? What must the animals have thought....their caretakers have become their killers....how betrayed and grief-stricken they must have felt? If the effects of war are so bad and sad, why is war not banned? I could feel her sadness....her turmoil...her helplessness. She was trying to find a way so that such things are not repeated, wars are stopped, and she came out with her own solution....she decided to type the whole story, word by word, and send it over email to all her friends and all email addresses that she could get hold of!! She also decided to set up a table beside her school gate, with this book on it, and request all visitors who came to attend the pet show being organised by her school on 4th Oct'02,which is the World Animal Welfare Day, to go through this book!
The questions she asked me were many....and many may have remained unasked in that young mind....I could feel her questioning justice, engaging her imagination and creativity to find alternative solutions, overflowing with compassion and empathy, maybe wondering about the indifference of mother nature, seeing the insanity and ravages of war, setting up of small but noble goals for herself....
This book conveys and wakens up more than just the futility and pain of war. Anti-war seeds have to be sown in an individual as she is the basic unit of society, changes there will ultimately change the society, and this has to be done at an early age. By what I saw in my daughter, the feelings this book evoked in her, I very very strongly recommend this book for everyone at every place.

The first time I read this was when I started studying Japan.This book tells about possible things that could happen in matters of war.I read this book almost every day.Although it's sad I can finnish the book.But I can never finish the book without tears in my eyes.

Scholefield ,in later years turned to writing UK set crime fiction,but he made his name with vivid and bold adventure tales often set in his native Africa .This is one such example being a story of 19th century South Africa -a time before the nation was so designated .Its title refers to the great Zulu leader Chaka although it is some way from being a biographical novel as he is often absent from the narative for long periods of time

The book revolves around the Blain family ,whose head ,James Fraser Blain has been falsely accusaed of assault and sentenced to transportation to Australia from his native Scotland .He escapes from the convict ship in South Africa and ,with his wife,Francis and two sons ,moves into the relatively unexplored hinterland of the colony travelling by covered wagon with two African servants ,including Stone Axe the bushman.His elder son ,Robert,acts as narrator and we see things through his eyes
Fraser saves the life of a Zulu warrior who is being attacked by an elephant ;this warrior is Mgobozi a kinsman of Chaka and the family is taken under Chaka's wing ,building a farm and homestead in the area.There they witness the conflicts between the Zulus and neighbouring tribes .
The narrative has two strands -political and personal.On the political level the book deals with key incidents in the hhistory of Chaka,s reign and the evolving history of relationships between the Zulus and the emerging SDouth African state .it gives fascinating details of tribal governanace and ritual among the Zulu nation and does not shrink from the negative side of Chaka's rule especially the violence and bloodshed of what at times was a reign of terror directed at political opponents
The personal strata of the book looks at tensions within the Fraser's especially the strained marital relationships when James becomes sexually attracted to a young native slave girl bought by the family ansd who unwittingly also causes sexual tension between Robert and his father.
the last 100 pages -from which Chaka is virtually absent -move into a straighforward and robust action narrative involving cannibals ,renegade Zulu warriors and slave traders.
It is a strong narrative driven book that repays reading for lovers of good action cventred novels

"Great Elephant" is a superb mix of fiction against a true African background. It is a story of two boys who grow to manhood during a time of great tribal wars. One of these boys is a chief's son destined to fulfill his roll as leader and warrior to the death. The other boy is his friend from a different society. Though they are from two vastly different worlds they come together in the universal bond of friendship. Alan Scholefield creates believable situations punctuated with characters that you genuinely feel compassion towards. You are not drawn into the battles, you willingly suit up. Drums beating, hearts racing, staccato breathing and sounds that ring in mind. The climax will leave you awash with tears of pride.

I read this book in 6th grade and have never forgotten it. The settings, characters, battles were were so vivid that I can remember many parts as though I read them yesterday. I can hardly wait to read it again and share it with my family and friends. I really cannot say enough about this book.

My 2.5 year old loves this story and now knows a lot about Africa. She gets worried as the dry season continues and is excited when the "delicious rains" finally arrive to save the elephants. As a bonus, she now thinks thunderstorms are are wonderful, and thunder no longer scares her!

This book is beautiful - and perfect for reading aloud to kids

Photo pictorial for children shows progress of a baby elephant from birth through adulthood. Nicely written for very young children and with excellent photos; about what you would expect from television's Discovery channel. The book is a companion volume to "Africa's Elephant Kingdom".

My 2 year old son is fascinated with the Harry books. Just today, he and his 5 year old sister were "playing Harry" -- jumping in the wind and rolling down the little hill in our front yard. I heartily recommend these books for ages 2 - 4. I just wish that someone could make a stuffed version of Harry that is as wonderful and plush as the drawings -- wouldn't that be swell?

I love this series of Harry books. If you can believe it, my children's names are Harry Teddie, and Lulu! I freaked out when I saw these books.
Kim Lewis must have been looking over my shoulder as I was naming my children!! Thanks Kim!

The latest in the installment of the Harry books by Kim Lewis, is a charmer, like all her previous. Soft, languid illustrations support a simple, yet effective story about fear and friendship. I love that these books have no aggression, no violence, but are not preachy and manage to convey in beautiful illustrations a gentle
introduction to courage. I really love this series, and am delighted to see yet another Harry adventure.

I got this as a baby shower gift for a friend who's having her first child and they plan to have a lot more...But this story is an endearing rendition of "I'm older than you and I don't have to do what you have to do before bedtime." The pictures are soft and adorable and the fact that they are elephants is just so cute. I love this story. Sally Hunter brings to life the bedtime ritual of Humphrey and his older sister. And as Humphrey is settling into his nighttime routines his sister appears to be having difficulty in realizing that she too must get ready for bed. I find it particularly amuzing that she has trouble with her dollies and finally succombs to the idea that bed isn't so bad. So sweet. A must for any library.

We love Humphrey's corner at our house! A lovely little story that's beautifully illustrated!

I have all 3 books Sally Hunter has released so far. The stories are simple, yet they hold your attention. The pictures are beautiful. They really make me remember what it was like to be a small child. My son has been enjoying theses books since we found them at a book store over a year ago. He is now 4 and continues to love them. I will preorder Sallys' books as long as she writes them. I hope for a collection! They are simply my favorite books.

This book is full of wonderful plays by Bertolt Brecht. I had performed a scene from The Judge in one of my acting classes in community college, and I just HAD to get my hands on my own copy after. I'm glad I got it, because I love reading all of his plays.

Whatever the controversy in Brecht's personal life or even his authorship of the work which we credit him, the works contained in this collection are windows to understanding the form championed by many as the only alternative to Stanislavsky's method.

'The Elephant Calf' and 'The Measures Taken' are lessons in action and politics. 'The Jewish Wife' apart from being one of the most important monologues of all time, is a lesson in humanity. A great collection for any actor or serious theatre enthusiast.

This play has many angles of which may be interpreted. You can see that the wife and husband are well known in the community and the husband is intelligent. The wife is trying to find a way to stand up to her husband (about her leaving him to go to safer Amsterdam during WWII), but will she be able to gather her courage and speak up or just go along with what he tells her, though she thinks he is wrong?

Elephants are special. I bet you know someone who collects elephant sculptures and pictures. (If not, perhaps you know a Republican.) Elephants are the number one attraction in the circus, something that circus managers realize very well. Pandas might be a bigger draw at zoos, but they are really hard to get, while there are plenty of zoo elephants. Many people worship Ganesha the elephant god, and others have a soft spot for Horton or Babar. They are big, which always impresses humans; but we are not equally impressed by, say, giraffes. Despite their size, elephants are relentlessly cute; they are obviously intelligent and active, and those trunks do impish and clever things. They are social beings among themselves, and they do form important bonds with humans; though it is an exaggeration that they never forget, they do have capacity to remember those who treated them well and ill, for a long time. It is the bonds with humans that Eric Scigliano treats in _Love, War, and Circuses: The Age-Old Relationship Between Elephants and Humans_ (Houghton Mifflin), a book that well captures the awe, delight, and sorrow we hold for the pachyderms among us.

Scigliano confesses himself addicted to "elephalia," and the evidence is all here. He has traveled to distant lands, and to zoos and circuses to learn about the captive version. Scigliano's book winds up being an amiable miscellany of elephant lore. There is the Bangkok developer who built a skyscraper in the shape of a deco cartoon of an elephant. There are other smaller elephant buildings as novelty architecture in, say, Coney Island. There has been a ballet for elephants, the Circus Polka, and before you think that this was some seedy novelty act, the choreography was by George Balanchine, and the music by Igor Stravinsky. It ran for a season in 1942. Elephants in Kenya dig deep caves to get to the salt. Others dig wells, which benefit all the animals around. But elephants have not generally fared well at the hands of the humans who ostensibly adore them. Thai elephants, for instance, are worked illegally on protected reserves, and because the furtive work has to be done with speed, it is literally done with speed; the elephants are tanked up on amphetamines to work all through the night (whereas a three to five hour period is considered the maximum safe working day). Circuses and zoos may try to treat elephants humanely, and perhaps are better at it than they used to be, but some of the horror stories here are truly disheartening. The big beasts need plenty of room, and simply cannot get it in captivity; and there are fewer wilds for them to return to, as farming takes over their lands.

There are good conservation programs in elephant homelands, and Scigliano makes the case that the efforts now going to breed and raise elephants in captivity would be better directed to indigenous conservation. There are other things we could do, but it will take the humans to get involved and do them. This may be a book about elephants, but it is also specifically about humans who supposedly care about them. Scigliano's book tackles all aspects of this puzzling relationship. "Each inquiry into the elephant-human tangle leads to paradox, even after thousands of years of undomesticated domestic partnership. While we prop up our civilizations, literatures, and faiths upon its broad back, the animal remains untamed, and in many ways unknown." His valuable book can help us understand how important elephants have been to us, and how impoverished the world will be if they are not given the room they need.

Scigliano makes no bones about the fact this book is more about Asian elephants than their popular big-eared African counterparts. Tragically, this must have meant with the dearth of literature on Asian elephants, the first half was his own compilation - and it was written in that exasperating journalistic style of starting in the middle, dribbling to the end and then abruptly bouncing to the beginning and drifting back to the starting point. This meant reading about 20 pages before realising that actually, some interesting stuff had been said.

Fortunately, the 2nd half of the book picked up as it focused more on the modern day treatment of elephants, which I suspect there is a lot more information already compiled. So, around the time we begin to learn about the history of elephants in circuses in America, the book suddenly takes a quantum leap in readibility and was thoroughly enjoyable until the end. In all due fairness, Scigliano really tries to present a fair view, but in the end, you just can't. The fact of the matter is, humans are mistreating elephants (and any giant wild mammal for that matter!) and many people appear to blind to it - delibrately. I felt in the end, Scigliano had made up for the awful rambling start and successfully turned me into a raging environmentalist - albeit, I am now more concerned for the plight of ALL wild mammals as ALL are threatened from habitat destruction by mankind!

People have adored and used elephants for hundreds of years: this provides a special focus on these elephant/human relationships, explaining how elephants may have contributed to human evolution and how the elephant's image continues to inspire popular culture. Add scientific facts about elephants and details on the author's own travels to view them and you have an intriguing, wellrounded blend of insights.

My son is now 18mos old. He got this book when he was about 6mos old - we read to him almost every night. This is by far his favorite. He loves the pop-ups. I've actually had to buy another copy, the pop-ups haven't held up very well.....but the story itself is wonderful. It teaches a great lesson - and it's done in a way to keep a toddler interested.

My sister gave this book to my sons for Christmas. Since then, it is my 3-year old's favorite book. His favorite animal is an elephant, and he likes the pictures in this book better than some of his other elephant books. The pictures are very well done, and even though the little elephant is very worried, nothing in this book is portrayed as scary. One piece of advice, though, be very careful how you handle the pop-up portions of the book, my children broke one of them within a couple days. You may want to keep this book somewhere for safe keeping rather than just let your kids handle it whenever or however they want.

My son loves this book - he loves the wiggly pop-ups and giggles at them moving as we open each page. I like the variety of pop-ups plus flaps which make it interesting for younger readers. The story is beautiful - a mommy who would save her baby from everything. It is a book with a simple message of love, just what I want to read to my son.

The kids (3 & 5yo) love Oscar and Arabella. its a great story that opens up kids mind with many questions about ice age and bring a discussion about our evolution. Above all, fun fun fun story. highly recommended.

My daughter loved this book, but.... As any parent who's chosen a seldom-heard name for their baby knows, it's a thrill for kids with unusual names to see them in settings where they're used to only seeing OTHER people's names... And whether my little Arabella loved this one for that reason or just because it's a darned good book, I can't say, but she sure loved it a lot!

Upon seeing this book again, our daughter shouted "Arabella! Arabella! Arabella!" in the public library, much to our chagrin.

The story is cute and the pictures are whimsical. There are enough details in the illustrations for our two and a half year old to make running commentaries - "Oscar has a stomachache".

It is a keeper.