ISBN
9780994531407
Reviewed
by Brook Tayla
Those that
know me well, know that my greatest love is children’s literature –
particularly picture books, but running second is being a bit of an animal
activist. I also have a love of elephants that is inexplicable but that
has been ever present in my life from early childhood – so there was something
that instantly drew me to the combination of these two things when I saw Ella by Nicole Godwin and Demelsa
Haughton. I knew this book was going to have an important message told in
a tender way: you can see it on the front cover.
Nicole Godwin’s story is based on her
real life experiences with elephants in Thailand, where she experienced both
sides of the elephant industry, from cruel and harsh training for the purpose
of tourism, through to volunteering at an elephant sanctuary, where the best is
done to give mistreated rescue elephants a dignified place to live out the rest
of their days. ‘Ella’ takes us on a
quintessential representation of this experience.
It is a brave journey that presents the
truth. Children want to know the truth
and as adults we have a responsibility of care to teach facts in an open and
accurate way, ensuring that we are contributing to empathetic and compassionate
future generations. Of course, we don’t
want to frighten children, and that is a tender balance that Nicole Godwin
masters with her words and Demelsa Haughton supports with her beautiful
illustrations. Ella, the baby elephant in this story, has a sad, heart-rending
story to tell - but she has strength, courage, persistence and determination
that lead her towards an ending with a happy outcome.
Picture books need to engage adult
storytellers and this book will definitely do that and will initiate
conversations with children on different levels depending upon their age.
I feel saddened at the amount and extent
of animal cruelty in the world – which is why more books like this are
needed. I recommend that every
household, pre-school, kindergarten and primary school keep a copy of this
serious but beautifully told story on their shelves.
Congratulations Nicole and Demelsa - you handled the difficult with tender
tenacity xx
Brook Tayla writes a blog called telltalestome@wordpress.com
and would love you to drop by, read some reviews, leave a comment and
subscribe.
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