5^th Grade and Up

Samantha Gray has one parent, her dad, and a big family: eleven elephants. Living in an elephant sanctuary and raised close to the herd, Sam understands the animals’ behavior, interacts with them easily, and has a special relationship with each one. She finds her elephants kind, caring, protective, and much easier to get along with than most people – such as her dad’s lawyer girlfriend, Joyce.

With a new arrival at the sanctuary, Sam’s world is upended. She knew raising a newborn elephant would be hard, time-consuming work. But she never anticipated the secrets surrounding thisbaby, which threaten the herd’s peaceful existence, the sanctuary’s everyday routine, and even Sam and her dad’s place among their elephants.

Yet another story about a child with a single parent and a deceased parent. Luckily, the main plot of this story is ELEPHANTS! Asian elephants to be precise. Yes, there is a difference.

I waited a long time to get my hands on this book and it was worth the wait. I love elephants! If you love elephants, you’ll love them even more after reading this story. I thought I already knew a lot about these amazing creatures, like how an elephant’s trunk has up to 40,000 muscles in it, the human body only has 639. But there is so much more to these beautiful creatures than I possibly could have imagined.

There are two main plot points in this story but mainly focuses on Sam and her father’s bond with the elephants. You’ll have to read the book to find out what the plot points are for yourself. No spoilers here.

As a bonus, the following YouTube link below include a heartwarming moment between elephants and humans, cuddly baby elephants, the science behind an elephants’ nose and the elephant episode of Zoboomafoo, one of my favorite shows.

Wild Elephants Salute Rescuers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEDHRh8gfm8

Baby Elephants Who Want to be Lap Dogs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqMwak7HSGQ

Inside the Nose of an Elephant | Science Take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKpxtoTmBRg

Zoboomafoo – The Nose Knows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPg8qE9vcGE&t=412s

And extra credit to anyone who can find out where in the world this story takes place. Seriously, I have no idea. I couldn’t find any mention of it.

This weeks’ Weird but True Fact about Elephants

Elephant boogers can be as big as your fist.