When Anju Loved Being an Elephant
Anju, an elephant, is being moved again, coaxed by her mahout (caretaker) into a trailer. Told in flashback, the story paints Anju’s memories—of happy days in Sumatra; of too many years performing circus tricks (perching on a stool, bedecked with a silly hat); and of life in zoos. Butler’s soft-edged paintings add a dimension of compassion in reflecting Anju’s memories. Endearing images of elephant babies standing with trunks entwined, sleeping “heartbeat-to-heartbeat,” contrast dramatically with the sad-eyed elephant being transported, her trunk clinging to bars symbolic of prison. After 50 years of captivity, Anju is at first wary of other elephants and the wide-open spaces of her new elephant-sanctuary home, but she soon eases into her new life. Although the anthropomorphism may be off-putting to adults sharing the story with young ones, the elephant’s thoughts are necessary to convey the heavy but important message of how humans use animals. An appendix includes fascinating facts about elephants. Grades 1-3. --Patricia Austin