Elephants Books

Not a story of the Battle of Shiloh, this is a book aimed at showing readers what was the mental state of the raw recruits at the U.S. Civil War battle of Shiloh.

This battle was the bloodiest battle that had ever been fought in America, with 23,000 casualties in just two days!

The authors turn to letters written by soldiers to their families, friends and to their local newspapers. Thus, we are given an opportunity to see the way the soldiers reacted to things like battle, death, being wounded, leadership, courage, slavery, and the questionable leadership qualities of their superior officers.

I needed to write a report on Shiloh, and this book gave me some information which I greatly needed. It gave me the points of view and opinions of some of the new recruits used to fight at the Battle of Shiloh.

Seeing the Elephant takes the historiographical tactics of McPherson or Power -- close study of participants' own writings -- and applies them to a specific group at a specific moment: green recruits at the Battle of Shiloh. While the conclusions the co-authors come up with are more or less what one would expect, the book is still highly interesting and gives a good picture of the mentality of the average Civil War soldier before, during and after the battle. One thing I'd point out is that this is *not* a tactical study of Shiloh -- you'll have to go to another book for that. I would recommend this not only to students of the specific battle/campaign but to anyone interested in the battle experience and soldier mentalities of the period.

John Swinburne, the poet's grandfather, was his idol. He had been a friend and sympathizer of Mirabeau and John Wilkes. Algernon Charles Swinburne was born in 1837. His father was an admiral, a family man. Admiral Swinburne subsidized his son's literary career.

At Eton the poet had shaped his obsessions and enthusiasms. The Victorian public school system was characteristically brutal, vicious. Swinburne was an oddity and a recluse. By age thirteen, reading on his own, he knew the plays of Marlowe, Webster, Ford, Massinger. In 1856 he entered Balliol College. Mid-Victorian Oxford had romantic charm. The Pre-Raphaelites discovered Oxford.

Benjamin Jowett claimed that Swinburne's essays were all language and no thought. Jowett taught the poet habits of work, (salvation by work). The fatal flaw of Swinburne's genius was that he lacked impetus, inspiration, notwithstanding his learning and facility.

Swinburne's POEMS AND BALLADS was brought out in 1866. He saw Byron's career as a mirror of his own. ATALANTA IN CALYDON was issued in 1865. It was dedicated to William Savage Landor.

As early as 1863 Swinburne suffered from fits. Swinburne was a figure head of an artistic movement, Art for Art's Sake. He received warnings about his conduct and the content of his writings from Browning and Ruskin. Jowett turned his Master's lodging into an intellectual salon. In the early 1870's he acted as Swinburne's external conscience. Swinburne's style of living exceeded his parents' ability to pay for it.

By 1879 Algernon's health was at its worst. Lady Swinburne and Theodore Watts-Dunton exchanged telegrams. Watts-Dunton was to act as domestic and moral nursemaid to Swinburne at The Pines located in Putney for the last thirty years of the poet's life.

This is a moderately-sized book recounting the life and times of Algernon Swinburne briskly and adequately.

I have recently come to study Swinburne's work in detail and found Thomas's biography helpful and interesting. It is a great book for those of us just coming to understand and appreciate the work of Algernon Charles Swinburne. The book reads easily, quickly and gives one a glimpse into Swinburne's world. I recommend this book for anyone wanting to begin studies on Swinburne and/or the Victorian World of writers and beyond.

Thomas's "Swinburne" is an acceptable biography, conveying the necessary names, dates and places of ACS's life. The volume, however, is curiously thin, given the monster tomes generated in recent years on Morris, Ruskin and other members of the mid-Victorian set. In covering his territory, one gets the impression that Thomas didn't quite know what to do with the prurient bits of Swinburne's life, alternately dwelling on them and skipping past them. Nonetheless, students of mid-Victorian culture should be grateful for a thoughtful book on so shamefully neglected a poet.

This book has many pictures and covers the material well. My only disappointment was that it was written to appeal to a slightly younger audience than I had hoped. However, I do not regret my purchase. I would highly recommend this book.

Beautiful photography and interesting text, but I was interested in the actual art as painted by the elephants, but there is very little of that. Mostly pictures of jungles. If you like that you will like the book. If you want to see the acutual artwork you will be very dissapointed.

This lovely book is important proof of the highly evolved state of consciousness in elephants -- mental and emotional. It has wonderful photos of actual paintings by elephants, and is written in an amusing and witty style. It is an inspiring read for anyone interested in animals, but I think also helps cross the gap between those who already attuned to animals and those who need to have their eyes opened to what animals are really like.

I love Babar. I grew up with Babar, and now as a parent, I am happy to share the stories with my children, but let's face it, Babar does, on some occasions(and in my opinion) does have some subject matter that may be slightly inappropriate for kids. The original story had a death scene and a snake bite that always upset me as a kid. This story is wonderful. The art is lush and beautiful, and ultimately, the story has a nice lesson about friendship and rejecting prejudices. BUT, I am troubled by how the characters learn the lesson, particularly as the characters practcially run away from home, leaving their parents searching for them. It is because of that that I cannot rate this one higher

... The children of the two mighty rulers play and have so much fun that they forget their differences. They forget they are supposed to hate one another. Buy this book and you will reap your investment 100-fold. Enjoy!

I thought this was the most fabulous and cutest book ever! It not only teaches a lesson for children but it is fun to read. Children and adults alike will love this book. A must for your libray, whether you have children or grandchildren (or older siblings)!

It is the sacred duty of the eldest child to deviously taunt the youngest sibling. If one can do so with the aid of middle siblings, all the better. It is equally the duty of the youngest sibling to both believe the most gullible lies delivered by the oldest sibling and find an equally clever, but innocent, way to get their revenge.

And so we have The Chicken of the Family.

Henrietta is woken from her sleep and told by her oldest sister Kim that she isn't really a member of the family, she is a chicken, acquired from the farm down the road. Middle sister Claire's job is to go along with the joke, the support of two people saying the same thing giving the statement the weight of truth. Henrietta doesn't believe it's true until she wakes up in the morning and finds an egg in her bed and a couple of feathers on the floor.

Certain now that she is truly a chicken she runs away, down the road to the farm where she takes her rightful place in the chicken yard. Henrietta has no qualms adjusting to her new life as a chicken, scratching and taking a dust bath and playing follow the leader.

Kim and Claire arrive with a directive from their parents to admit their prank and bring Henrietta home. The only problem is that Henrietta is enjoying herself too much, feels she really is a chicken, and refuses to follow. Exasperated, Kim decides to call for back-up from her parents but Claire has decided to stay -- she's broken away from her sister's scheme after seeing what fun it is to be a chicken. Henrietta and Claire do trundle on home just in time to see their older sister getting chewed out for causing this fiasco.

"Sometimes it's good to be a chicken."

Indeed, sometimes embracing your gullibility is no different than embracing what makes you unique. Accepting what her sisters have told her, Henrietta is free to discover what it means to be different. She knows she's not a chicken on some level, just as she doesn't run away to get her sister in trouble, but along the way she's learned something about herself, about another culture (if you will), and about the things others will do to control you.

Yes, this is a deeper reading that a light and fluffy picture book deserves, but it's true: sometimes it is good to be a chicken.

This is a good read. Its good for us older guys who remeber our youger more exciting days. Its nice to read about an older guy who is being taken seriously by his company managemt. The excitement builds from the begining of the book. The book is full of surprises.

A good read for us old guys who remember our exciting younger days. It's nice to read about an older guy being taken seriously by his management. The excitement builds from the begining of the book.

An interesting combination here: the blending of a Disney theme park with the exquisite writing of a beloved nature writer. Jean Craighead George, the highly acclaimed author of dozens of beloved books for young readers, wrote a series of picture books that focuses on four kinds of animals that make their homes in the African savanna (at least, it appears to be Africa; they may be living in the Disney theme park, Animal Kingdom). But readers are not to worry, for the animals in the stories are not cutesy, cartoonish critters--Ms. George, even though the style may be a slight departure from that of many of her other books, still manages to present her characters with accuracy and loving detail. In ELEPHANT WALK, a young elephant named Odon takes a walk across his land with his family and matriarch mother, wondering why his mother wants to walk so far, and learning about himself, his home--and his long, cumbersome trunk! During the walk he meets other animals, forms close bonds with his relatives, and loves to play. Then the family meets another group of elephants--and the ending is both endearing and intriguing. This is a good story, with lots of information about this fascinating mammal, and colorful illustrations. In the back Ms. George once again displays her interest and knowledge of animal behavior and language by showing us a chart of elephant talk. She has showed this interest and knowledge in other animal books, such as the recent HOW TO TALK TO YOUR DOG, HOW TO TALK TO YOUR CAT, and the Newbery-Medal winning novel JULIE OF THE WOLVES, and its intriguing sequels JULIE, JULIE'S WOLF PACK, and the new picture books NUTIK THE WOLF PUP and NUTIK AND AMAROQ PLAY BALL.

This is a tale of a day in the life of a baby elephant, with fairly detailed information about what it is like to be an elephant, how an elephant herd and its various members will act, depending on their respective roles in the herd, and how elephants communicate. The "narrator" has a particular problem with figuring out how to use his trunk, which he refers to as his nose, and tells his tale in a manner which I suspect will have children laughing. I found it educational and entertaining. Although apparently a single book, it has the apperance of perhaps being the first in a series of books about animals. If so, I am looking forward to the rest.

We often praise mothers, but what's behind the words? Sometimes little in the way of support, financial assistance, day care, or flextime. Yet mothers prove that not only can they manage all their responsibilities, they can learn more, produce more, participate more, volunteer more, and give more.

That's the thesis of Emily Monosson's superbly edited book written by thirty-four scientists who also chose to be mothers in the midst of their quest for a Ph.D. These women tell what it's like to spend their child-bearing years studying, doing research, defending their research, writing grant proposals, publishing their research, teaching, working all hours in a lab, doing a post-doc, and deciding to have or not to have children.

All the women in this collection had children at some time in the process. They related how others either supported or did not support their decision. Most of the husbands, family and friends supported them. Many of the advisors, institutions, employers, and supervisors did not.

Already experienced writers, these women wrote short, beautifully expressed personal essays that make up this enlightening book. As in the title of Theresa M. Wizemann's essay, "The Eternal Quest for Balance--A Career in Five Acts, No Intermission," these women spent or are spending their lives contributing to improving society while balancing a career, family, and even hobbies. With few concessions, they are doing it all in spite of poor working situations, low pay, and often inadequate child-care facilities. But these women see their lives as enriched through making the choice to have children.

As women, each of us has chosen different career paths, but these essays remind us that we're not alone. We have a special contribution to make, but we also must accept the challenge to make the path easier for our daughters by insisting on better working conditions that allow maternity and paternity leave, child-care options, and flextime, honoring motherhood rather than punishing women for choosing motherhood.

As Wizemann writes, "Bringing up a child and bringing up a career are remarkably similar. They are sometimes hard to conceive, and sometimes heartbreaking, rarely predictable, but tremendously rewarding. Motherhood is the grandest experiment. Don't miss out. And remember that you are not alone in your eternal quest for balance."

by Susan M. Andrus
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women

I'm sorry, but this book was so disappointing. Not what I was hoping for at all. I feel very bad giving this book a negative review, because the intention behind it is SO good. And I do not mean to criticize the editor or the women's stories. Some stories were engaging, but not all. I think perhaps these mother scientists weren't given enough direction for their essays.

I am a mother scientist. I graduated with a PhD from MIT Biology (and a 1 and a half year old), and I am now doing post-doctoral research at Harvard. I am well-familiar with the struggles of being a mother in the laboratory. And I was looking for shared understanding and some stories of women who have done it as I am doing so. I recently read the book, Mama PhD, and THAT book was WONDERFUL!! I would highly recommend it to all looking at this book. That book had meaning and inspiration. This book was just discouraging and disappointing. It needed more "traditionally" successful mother scientists sharing their stories to help even it out. Almost none of the stories were women who maintained full-time academic work after maternity leave (which is what I intend to do, and which will help bring more policy changes from inside the system). While non-traditional paths are great and important to discuss, there should at least have been inclusion of some other more traditional stories. This book leaves the reader with the impression that it is impossible to be a successful full-time academic with children, or, if there is career success, the woman is tired and stressed and unhealthy much of the time. Too many of these stories were of incredibly disgruntled women with negative experiences. Those stories SHOULD be shared, but in combination with POSITIVE stories as well, which I know exist out there.

But where are the role models I have known? For example, my PhD advisor is one of them, a successful mother of FOUR children, at a prestigious institution. When I looked for PhD advisors (and post-doc advisors), I made sure to find the ones who were family-friendly. We have SO many choices in academia- it is important to find those who will help you in your path.

If you are a mother scientist in academia and you want to hear about other women in the same situation, I would not recommend this book to you, UNLESS you are looking for validation for leaving academia. If that is the case, then perhaps this book would be helpful in demonstrating that you can leave academia but still be a scientist. But this book is NOT for those who want to stay in academia, in my opinion.

I sincerely hope I do not offend any contributor to this book with my comments. I know you all had the best of intentions- it just didn't come through the way the book was compiled.

bold, colourful illustrations and simple text create a whimsical, lovely story in which a brave, precarious elephant executes feats of mental and physical acrobatics.

with the exception of some vocabulary the text is sparse and simple enough for young children (infant, preschool, K). the story also has a nice read-aloud rhythym, accompanied by the bold images that work so well when reading to that age.

older children and adults may be disappointed in elephant's lack of facial expression. however, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book -- the story ends with a surprising sentiment that had myself and a few of my fellow children's librarians discreetly sniffling.

by the way, i've been looking to add this book to my collection for three years and have yet to come across a copy (it was part of the collection in the library at which i worked). email me if you know of one i may purchase. thanks in advance.

bold, colourful illustrations and simple text create a whimsical, lovely story in which a brave, precarious elephant executes feats of mental and physical acrobatics.

with the exception of some vocabulary the text is sparse and simple enough for young children (infant, preschool, K). the story also has a nice read-aloud rhythym, accompanied by the bold images that work so well when reading to that age.

older children and adults may be disappointed in elephant's lack of facial expression. however, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book -- the story ends with a surprising sentiment that had myself and a few of my fellow children's librarians discreetly sniffling....

I used this to introduce the concept of rules and places to my first graders. It's a cute book that assumes that everyone happens to own a full-grown elephant and the exact reasons and consequences of why they do not belong at school. Very clever and cute.

I found this book really really cute. I picked it up as a potential book to use in a lesson about transportation. The illustrations are fun and adorable. The children got a kick out of the book becuase it's an adventure of the child who brought her elephant to school and all the mischief it gets in. I really suggest reading this book to your children for fun.