Shhh! Do you spy a big animal
with wrinkly grey skin and large floppy ears? Maybe you feel
a trembling in the earth, then a
deep rumble, and hear stumpy feet shuffling through the grass?
With Extraordinary Elephants The Flannerys ask us to pop on our safari boots and walk with them among the elephants to find out about these huge and complex creatures who are sadly endangered.
We learn that there are different types of elephants and how to tell the difference. We find out all about their floppy ears and tiny tails. Did you know they walk on their tippy toes? We discover how they are very intelligent and have empathy, the ability to understand how someone else feels and may even understand death and grief. There are so many things their trunks can do from being a hose, a periscope, a smelling tool, to finding food. They need to find a lot of food as elephants eat around 160 kilograms of food every day! We learn about their families, how they play, talk, and love. From there we meet their babies and even get to know their cousins, the manatee and dugong. Of course, we have to meet their relative, the woolly mammoth.
It’s a welcome change to read a book about just one animal and the Flannery’s passion and communication skills for science shine through. The illustrations are clear and fun with the surrounding information easy to digest. Dear Flannerys, more books like this please.
Reviewed by Merle Morcom
Age Guide 5+
ABOUT THE AUTHORS AND ILLUSTRATOR
Image: Kate Holden
Professor Tim Flannery is one of the world’s leading scientists, explorers and conservationists. He has held positions in renowned institutions across Australia and internationally, including Director of the South Australian Museum, Visiting Chair in Australian Studies at Harvard University and Distinguished Research Fellow at the Australian Museum. He was named Australian of the Year in 2007. He has published more than 30 books.
Emma Flannery is a scientist and writer whose curiosity for the natural world has seen her travel and work in some of its most wild and interesting places. She has explored caves, forests and oceans across most of the globe’s continents in search of the elusive fossils, animals and plants that help us understand our planet and who we are in it. With postgraduate experience in geology, chemistry and palaeontology, Emma’s research and writing has been published in scientific journals, children’s books and a number of museum-based adult education tours.
Katie Melrose was born and raised along the Southern Californian coast where her love for art and reading was cultivated at a young age by her parents. After graduating with a BFA in illustration from California State University of Fullerton, she quickly delved into illustrating books. Katie is extremely bookish, getting through more than 100 books a year (shout out to audio books!). You’ll mostly find her with a brush, but when she’s without, she’ll be in the kitchen, cooking up a storm and pretending she’s a chef – perhaps her second greatest passion in life after illustration.
0 Comments