School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-The sound of trumpeting trunks announces Gail Gibbons's book (Holiday House, 2008) about African elephants. Replete with fascinating facts and authentic sound effects to illustrate elephants breathing, smelling, drinking, communicating, showering, and other daily tasks, the book will amaze children with its details and diagrams. Elephants are described as social animals who are happiest in matriarchal family groups. Females live separate from males, although everyone in a herd protects the calves. Walter Dixon narrates with clarity, reading the informational paragraph first, then the picture captions from top to bottom on each page. Students will find this audiobook ideal for reports or browsing, and will come away with some mind-boggling numbers: "Elephants eat about 300 lbs. (136 kilograms) of food in a day. The female elephant, or cow, gives birth 22 months after mating. Ninety-nine percent of baby elephants are born at night." Page-turn signals are optional. This will be a popular resource for fact-hungry primary grade children.-Lonna Pierce, MacArthur Elementary School, Binghamton, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Gibbons's latest is a handy early reference book about the African elephant. Beginning with where elephants are found, the text moves on to look at early ancestors of the elephant and the specific features that make it unique in the animal world: trunk, tusks, thick skin, large ears, poor eyesight and large molars. Much of the narrative focuses on the social nature of elephantshow they live in family groups, raise their young, find food and water and protect themselves. Large titles at the beginning of each new topic and large-print vocabulary words that are defined on the same page make this an easily accessible resource for children. The greens, browns, yellows and grays of the watercolors reflect the African savannah and forest habitats of the elephants. A map and numerous diagrams acquaint readers intimately with their subject. Often full-page illustrations do not convey the full range of information found in the text, so Gibbons employs insets to portray the concepts. A good introduction to the topic. (Informational picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In her latest nonfiction picture book, Gibbons introduces African elephants. The simply written text briefly discusses the animals' prehistoric ancestors, physical characteristics, habits, social structure, life cycle, and threats from predators and poachers. The ink drawings with watercolor washes vary in quality and clarity. Some illustrations such as the map of Africa indicating the animals' range, the picture of an elephant with its parts labeled, and the series of small scenes showing how elephants use their trunks are very clearly drawn, and their washes enhance the artwork. The large scenes with many elephants together are less satisfying, though, perhaps because the use of similar mottled colors for the animals and their environment sometimes makes it hard to discern the individual elephants. Still, this colorful book offers plenty of basic information and intriguing details about African elephants. The last page provides an illustrated roundup of additional factoids.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist
