Grandma Elephant's in Charge
Martin Jenkins
Ivan Bates

Walker, 2003
32pp., hbk., $27.95
0744562996

This is a tricky book because it looks like it is a storybook but it is really an information book. It is also very clever because you can read it like a storybook but there is lots of information about elephants on each page too.

Did you know that elephants can live for 65 years and that they can run faster than a human being?

We really liked this book because it is would be good for all age groups - the littlies can get the information from the story and we can get extra information from the other pages. We have all seen animal programs on television about elephants and, next to dolphins, they are our favourite creatures. We think this is because their babies are so cute.

Now we know a lot more about them and we did some work to find out why they are killed by poachers for their tusks. We think it is wrong to kill animals just so someone can look pretty. It gave us a lot to think about and now we are investigating other creatures that are killed for clothing like seals and crocodiles.

The pictures are very clear - some of us like the one with the baby elephants playing the best, but some of us liked the elephant charging at you.

We give this book 10/10 and we wish there were more like it.

4SN, Palmerston ACT