Faithful Elephants


Book Description

This beautifully illustrated children’s book offers a sobering lesson about the horrors of war through the lens of a Japanese zoo during WWII. At Tokyo’s famous Ueno Zoo, a zookeeper recounts the story of three performing elephants—John, Tonky, and Wanly—who became casualties of the Second World War. As bombs fell nightly on the city, the zoo was in danger of destruction. In the interest of public safety, instructions were given to kill the potentially dangerous animals. Still, the elephant’s keepers wept and prayed that the war would end so that their beloved elephants might be saved. Originally published in Japan in 1951, this heartbreaking historical tale is now available in English with beautiful watercolor illustrations by Ted Lewin.




Animal's People


Book Description

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize, "Animal's People" is by turns a profane, scathingly funny, and piercingly honest tale of a boy so badly damaged by the poisons released during a chemical plant leak that he walks on all fours.




Benno and the Night of Broken Glass


Book Description

In 1938 Berlin, Germany, a cat sees Rosenstrasse change from a peaceful neighborhood of Jews and Gentiles to an unfriendly place where, one November night, men in brown shirts destroy Jewish-owned businesses and arrest or kill Jewish people. Includes facts about Kristallnacht and a list of related books and web resources.




The Zookeeper's Wife


Book Description

A true story--as powerful as "Schindler's List"--in which the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands.




Flying Changes


Book Description

The New York Times–bestselling author of Water for Elephants “writes with passionate precision about horses and their humans and the healing power of love” (Maryanne Stahl, author of Forgive the Moon). There is a time to move on, a time to let go . . . and a time to fly. Anxiety rules Annemarie Zimmer’s days—the fear that her relationship with the man she loves is growing stagnant; the fear that equestrian daughter Eva’s dreams of Olympic glory will carry her far away from her mother . . . and into harm’s way. For five months, Annemarie has struggled to make peace with her past. But if she cannot let go, the personal battles she has won and the heights she has achieved will have all been for naught. It is a time of change at Maple Brook Horse Farm, when loves must be confronted head-on and fears must be saddled and broken. But it is an unanticipated tragedy that will most drastically alter the fragile world of one remarkable family—even as it flings open gates that have long confined them, enabling them all to finally ride headlong and free. “Flying Changes reminds me how unpredictable life is . . . Even if you are horseless (my deepest sympathies), you will love this novel” —Rita Mae Brown, New York Times–bestselling author of Rubyfruit Jungle




Elephant Company


Book Description

"At the onset of World War II, [Billy] Williams formed Elephant Company and was instrumental in defeating the Japanese in Burma and saving refugees, including on his own 'Hannibal Trek, ' [becoming] a media sensation during the war, telling reporters that the elephants did more for him than he was ever able to do for them"--




Meet Miss Fancy


Book Description

A charming and significant story set prior to the Civil Rights Movement about a boy who finds a way to challenge segregation laws. Frank has always been obsessed with elephants. He loves their hosepipe trunks, tree stump feet, and swish-swish tails. So when Miss Fancy, the elephant, retires from the circus and moves two blocks from his house to Avondale Park, he's over the moon! Frank really wants to pet her. But Avondale Park is just for white people, so Frank is not allowed to see Miss Fancy. Frank is heartbroken but he doesn't give up: instead he makes a plan! Frank writes to the City Council so his church can host a picnic in the park, and he can finally meet Miss Fancy. All of his neighbors sign the letter, but when some protest, the picnic is cancelled and Frank is heartbroken all over again. Then Miss Fancy escapes the zoo, and it's up to Frank to find her before she gets hurt.




Faithful and Virtuous Night


Book Description

Winner of the 2014 National Book Award for Poetry A luminous, seductive new collection from the "fearless" (The New York Times) Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Louise Glück is one of the finest American poets at work today. Her Poems 1962–2012 was hailed as "a major event in this country's literature" in the pages of The New York Times. Every new collection is at once a deepening and a revelation. Faithful and Virtuous Night is no exception. You enter the world of this spellbinding book through one of its many dreamlike portals, and each time you enter it's the same place but it has been arranged differently. You were a woman. You were a man. This is a story of adventure, an encounter with the unknown, a knight's undaunted journey into the kingdom of death; this is a story of the world you've always known, that first primer where "on page three a dog appeared, on page five a ball" and every familiar facet has been made to shimmer like the contours of a dream, "the dog float[ing] into the sky to join the ball." Faithful and Virtuous Night tells a single story but the parts are mutable, the great sweep of its narrative mysterious and fateful, heartbreaking and charged with wonder.




Horton Hatches the Egg


Book Description

Horton the elephant babysits an egg in this classic tale of kindness from Dr. Seuss. Enjoy this heartwarming story anytime, anywhere. With audio brilliantly read by actress and comedian Miranda Richardson.




The Eight-Year-Old Legend Book


Book Description

This collection of stories is based upon tales told by the Buddha to his monks 2500 years ago. Isabel Wyatt’s enchanting retelling conjures up a rich world of eastern legend, ruled by courtly kings and wise men, and populated by brave princes, faithful elephants and cunning monkeys. The stories tell of great adventures and heroes, of danger and courage, and most importantly of how wisdom and thoughtfulness always triumph over selfishness and greed. This anthology was compiled with children around the age of eight in mind -- children who are embarking on more and more adventures in their own lives, and themselves learning to become clever and brave.