The Girl and the Elephant

by Nicole De Cock

A Classic Tale of Enduring FriendshipThe girl visits the zoo, mostly to see the elephant. Together, they love to play elephant games and they love to play girl games. Then one day, the elephant is... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1582461333
• ISBN13: 9781582461335
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Tricycle Press
• Length: 1 Pages
• Weight: 1.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 10.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 7 to 11 years
• Grade Range: Grades 2 to 6

Customer Reviews

Stunning, simple and touching friendship

We took this book out of the library and I have come looking to purchase it. There is just enough text (one line or phrase per page) for my three year old son to not get bored, and the drawings complement it with great emotion, simplicity and accomplishment. The nameless girl loves to go to the zoo, looks at the penguins and apes. But her favorite is the elephant, which she must seduce into being her friend with gifts of carrots. They play girl games and they play elephant games. But then one day the elephant is gone: he is taken to Africa. The girl continues to go to the zoo, but is very sad. A swift inquires as to why, and selflessly flies overseas to search the whole continent to find the girl's pachaderm friend. He returns after a long sad winter with good news. The girl thinks of her friend and decides to say goodbye to her parents, and undertakes the voyage by boat and plane, and then searching through africa. The girl and her elephant are joyfully reunited and once again play girl games and elephant games. The drawings are so spare, yet convey everything necessary: the girl, the emotions, the empty zoo stall, the animals in africa. The length of the voyage is aptly portrayed. Tiny details draw our attention:the girl is reading tiny books about elephants, the swift is outside the boat window as the girl sleeps at night... The loneliness is palpable, as is the joy on their reunion. As another commenter has noted, the contrast of the same animals on a plain in Africa with the same animals behind bars in a snowy zoo in winter is beautifully and starkly rendered. My son who has little patience was captivated by this story: the tiny bird searching, the girl sad, the voyages, the friendship, and he expressed empathy throughout and requested to have it reread more than once in a sitting. Excellent book from every angle. Poetic. Beautiful. Easy to relate to.

Special Picture Book

This is a very special picture book. There are few books that can capture the expressiveness, simplicity and magic that this book has. I disagree very much with the first reviewer. I'm a children's librarian and have shared this book with success with many children. It's a great opportunity for children to see picture books that offer a different perspective, technique (strong black outlined illustrations and odd color pallette), or story. Not all picture books need to be of lively color and busy illustration. This is a book that offers a child something different and very interesting.

great book

Brilliant illustration - my three year old loves this book. Spare story line but unlike some who apparently need every single thought, movement, and emotion described, this book leaves it for the child to imagine. The book is quite enchanting.

READ IT, AGAIN

I disagree! My youngster and I enjoyed reading this book. I believe the illustrations overpower the strength of the words, but the overall fantasy-theme of the main character searching Africa over for her elephant friend is intriguing enough. The book indeed is veiled by sadness ... but I'm sick to death of the "atta boy, cotton-candy, happy ending" books for children these days. Let's face it ... the world isn't all sugar and spice. Not even close. Our animal kingdoms are fast disappearing (e.g.,less than 2,000 Grevi's zebras in the world and fast declining). And, generally speaking, the moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas today aren't exactly getting off their leather sofas in their Potlatch-sold wilderness, luxury cabins and condos to do anything about it. It may take a "stiffer-than-usual, more-honest-than-ever" message to our children to get this point across. "Save the world," doesn't mean tomorrow--it means today! I encourage readers to take several looks at this complex, yet entertaining story for children. Kudos to the publisher for taking the risk. Sally forth with the message!