Soul-Stirring Non-Fiction Picture Book: The Elephants Come Home

 Just to be clear, the actual title of this astounding new non-fiction picture book is:

THE ELEPHANTS COME HOME: A True Story of Seven Elephant, Two People, and One Extraordinary Friendship, written by Kim Tomsic and illustrated by Hadley Hooper. 

Every word of that title matters. First and foremost is the notion of HOME, which has been an element in several recent reviews of animal books: PERDU and THREE. If you missed them, I urge you to click and read, but not just now, please. This books are about domesticated animals, dogs, each seeking a place to call home. Both, you'll not be surprised, end happily, but not without some tension along the way. 

In this case, the animals in question are far from domesticated, and the story itself is not a product of someone's imagination. It is, as the title says, a TRUE STORY, but it shares the truth of all three titles: every living creature is seeking a safe home. 

This story is launched with a brief introduction to Lawrence, who loves animals, and Francoise, who loves Lawrence. Rightfully, even Max, the dog, is introduced on that opening, despite being overlooked in the title.The page turn introduces THULA THULA, the wildlife sanctuary of African busk, savannah, and forest that they created to preserve life. 

Take a breath. Take it in. That much alone deserves a moment of appreciation and awe, as do the next several turns indicating what a vast, natural, and SAFE home THULA THULA is. 

The terrifying tragedy arrives suddenly, as a matriarchal elephant leads her herd of seven in seeking a safe home from encroaching human habitat, only to be frightened, angered, and confused into earning labels of DANGEROUS, OUT OF CONTROL, and THREATENING. hey were considered rogue, and efforts were underway to destroy them.

THULA THULA welcomes them, but that is only the beginning of some terrifying adventures, patient adjustments, and one of the most heartwarming stories you will ever read. 

I want to call the illustrations in this exceptionally long picture book luminous. Aspects and hints and washes of light are deftly applied throughout the oversized double spreads, suggesting various times of day with glowing expanses of landscape and lifeforms or slim lines of backlighting or uplighting. The effect is cinematic, and yet  the matte paper and carefully blended earthy tones are drawn from naturalistic settings of water, dust, fields, and woods. Within those scenes, fine black lines identify realistic and expressive creatures, human and otherwise. Their minimally portrayed body postures, orientation to the other, and lift of brow or knee hint at a fully animated enactment of the story of how a bond of friendship formed, remained, and was sustained even after death. 

When you finish the main text you may still wonder if such a story could be true, or not. back matter offers details of the verifiable events, characters, and reliable resources to explore further. You could be forgiven for doubting, though, because this TRUE story has deeper meaning and more ehawr than even the richest of fairy tales.

Please read this book.

ELEPHANT and HISTORY FANS: MEET MISS FANCY

This is a short but sweet post about a short, sweet, historic story. Based on true events in Birmingham, Alabama in 1913, this charming fictional story of an elephant-obsessed boy  and his mother, his minister, and a local park incorporates the important truths about segregation, animal care, and dreaming big dreams. 

G. P. Putmnam's & Sons, 2019

MEET MISS FANCY is written by Irene Latham (co-author of CAN I TOUCH YOUR HAIR?) and illustrated by John Holyfield. The extensive author note in back clarifies that characters young Frank and his minister, Reverend Brooks, are fictional, but the time, place, segregated rules for park access, petition event, and denial of access are all historically correct. Even more impressively, the eponymous MISS FANCY was an actual circus elephant who was purchased through a school-based penny collection to become a resident of Avondale Park for twenty-one years. 
In this story Latham's colorful and figurative language (hosepipe trunk, flap-flap ears, and tree-stump feet) are perfectly paired with the images of lively character Frank and family/town members, representing life in a pre-WWI setting in the segregated south. The matter of fact sign on the park, NO COLORED ALLOWED, makes it clear that the previous scene of Frank's all-Black school is not accidental. His mother's fictional quotation no doubt mirrors often-repeated cautions by many voices to many young ears in those days: "Listen, Frank, I know it's not right, but it's the law, Change will take time."
This lively, delightful, and animal-friendly story should appeal to any and all, but is another fine example of ways that "Black History" belongs in everyday classrooms, homes, and story times.
Discussions may (and should) involve the reasons, racism, and injustice behind segregation policies, but will also gravitate to elephants and other fan-friendly animals (think hedgehogs, sloths, gorillas, and on and on.)

I saved this book review and commentary to share with you in late March, well-past the arbitrary boundaries of "BLACK HISTORY MONTH", that well-intentioned and double-edged effort that corrals our literary attention toward Blackness and History-ness into the shortest month of the year. This book, this character, and these discussions belong in our collections, on our shelves, under the spotlight every day of the year. 
I hope you agree, and I hope you check out this entertaining and empowering book. 
  Side note here, but a very significant part of the Author's Note to share: Miss Fancy resided in the park for twenty-one years, but then was sold to the Cole brothers-Clyde Beatty Circus. She toured with the circus for two years before being sold to the Buffalo Zoo in Buffalo, New York, where she lived on until 1954. Animal rights also becomes a worthy topic, considering lives of elephants and other wild animals in circus touring, in zoos, and in sanctuaries, such as THE ELEPHANT SANCTUARY in Tennessee. Webcam views of elephants in natural habitats can be accessed here.