Random House Studios – Mom Read It

The Secret Elephant… based on a true story!

Posted on July 3, 2024 by Rosemary Kiladitis

The Secret Elephant: Inspired by a True Story of Friendship, by Ellan Rankin, (Apr 2024, Random House Studio), $18.99, ISBN: 9780593703267

Ages 4-8

Inspired by the true story of Denise Weston Austin and Sheila the Elephant – a female zookeeper and her young charge, whom she kept safe during the bombing of Belfast in World War II – The Secret Elephant is a story that animal lovers of all ages will love. Told from Sheila’s point of view, we learn that Austin and Sheila were very close before the War, and that the young elephant was terrified and alone during the bombings, prompting Austin to stay with her and calm her. Weston had the idea to hide Denise at her own home after the Zoo closed for the day, allowing Sheila to live in her home, safe and comforted. When she was discovered, she had to go back to the Zoo, but Austin stayed with her, refusing to leave her friend alone. Rankin’s storytelling is warm, charming, and emotional; she uses brief sentences and evocative language to help readers empathize with the frightened elephant. Rankin’s brush illustrations provide texture and look like paintings with slight aging, letting readers feel the passage of time. Details include photos of Austin and Sheila in Sheila’s enclosure, and before-and-after moments show the chaos of living with a growing elephant: photos are askew, rugs bunched up. Rankin also shows the love between animal and person, as she shows Sheila playing with Austin’s yarn as she knits; Austin holding Sheila’s trunk as she leads her home; the hug between Sheila and Austin, reunited years down the line, both with “a few more wrinkles now”. An author’s note is smartly written as a series of newspaper articles, adding more texture to the story and engaging reader interest. Readers will love this story of light in a dark time of history.

Weston and Sheila’s story was made into a 2017 film, Zoo. You can find photos of Austin and Sheila at WartimeNI.

Nature recovers, with a little bit of love: Once Upon a Forest

Posted on March 18, 2022 by Rosemary Kiladitis

Once Upon a Forest, by Pam Fong, (Feb. 2022, Random House Studio), $17.99, ISBN: 9780593380147

Ages 4-8

A marmot tends to her garden one day and notices smoke from a distance. She and her friend, a small bird, arrive on the scene to see that a fire has devastated part of the forest, but she’s a determined friend of nature: accompanied by the bird, Marmot gets to work tending the land and replanting trees, With water, care, and patience, the forest, and the animals that live there, return. Once she’s satisfied that the nature can handle itself on its own again, the marmot returns home to discover how own garden has flourished. The wordless story centers on Marmot’s guardianship of her forest home. Drawn as a fluffy, cartoony character, her facial expressions help readers understand what she’s feeling and understand what they’re seeing. When she spies the smoke, we see her body language: back to the reader, her arms rise in surprise; she sees a helicopter fly by and dump water on the area, and turns to the reader, unsure. When she arrives at the fire site, she and the bird stand silently, eyes cast downward, shoulders slumped. She grabs her gardening tools and walks determinedly to the area, set on caring for the area. Bird flies nearby, helping where she can. Illustrated primarily in shades of gray, black and white, soft nature colors are added for emphasis: light blue for the water; green, yellow, and shades of pink and purple for flowers. The front endpapers set the stage of the story, with a smoldering campfire smoking near a fallen log; the back endpapers show the same area with new, green trees. Nature will heal, but it’s up to all of us to act, like Marmot, as keepers of the world and to live mindfully within nature. Booklist gave Once Upon a Forest a starred review and praises this story of “environmental stewardship”. Display and booktalk for Earth Day.

Visit Pam Fong’s webpage for more of her illustration.