“Did you know an elephant’s trunk has more than 60,000 muscles? This is just one of many things I learned from this fantastic book.
Elephant Journey: The True Story of Three Zoo Elephants and their Rescue from Captivity by Rob Laidlaw is a great non-fiction picture book. That means it is a great book with true facts, but it reads like a story.
I give Elephant Journey 4.5 out of 5 Stars; to be honest that is a pretty impressive score from me. This book earned the high rating for its great illustrated pictures, shown above, and photographs, shown below, just before the index giving a more non-fiction layout kind of feel.
I actually really like the design of the book. I appreciate how the author and illustrator distinguished between the story and the nitty gritty details. The illustrated pictures tell the story of Toka, Thika, and Iringa, the three elephants and their journey out of captivity. The illustrations are beautiful. The real photograph section goes more in depth into how the elephants made the journey, how the elephants thrived after (there was a super sad part), fascinating facts about elephants, and why captivity is so hard on elephants.
Elephant Journey is a great book, and I see a lot of value in it….[F]rom a reading level, interest level, and collection point of view I think this book is best suited for 4th- 6th grade (boys and girls alike), but older students could benefit with reading it and writing persuasive papers around the topic of elephants in captivity….
All in all, it was a powerful, educational, and enjoyable book to read….
If you have an elephant lover in your life, or you want to learn more about elephants in captivity definitely check this book out.”
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