Baby Elephant Joins the Herd

(Hardback)

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Description

Meet a baby elephant and see how she grows, from birth to adulthood.Developed with the American Museum of Natural History, this accessible nonfiction picture book features beautiful nature photography and an engaging narrative that will appeal to animal-loving kids.

'...beautiful and exciting and often heartwarming.' Kirkus

Reviews

"Herd composition, social order, eating, drinking, and other habits, as well as, of course, facts about elephants' trunks, are all covered in accessible language. . . . The stock photographs are beautiful and exciting--and often heartwarming--and the layout, in white-framed boxes with text against pastel backgrounds, is appealing. A solid introduction to African elephants, with engaging photographs." --Kirkus

"When an African savanna elephant is born, she weighs around 200 pounds and can stand after a couple of hours. Over the coming year, the little elephant's herd protects her while she nurses, plays, learns to use her trunk, and joins their walks to find food and water. She swims, then rolls in mud. A lion appears, but the adult elephants encircle the calf and face the predator with loud sounds, threatening tusks, and flapping trunks until he moves on. With a few sentences of pertinent text and a couple of large photos or several smaller ones on a double-page spread, the words and pictures together offer an appealing introduction to a young elephant's first year. While the photos are drawn from varied sources, they represent the little elephant and her herd convincingly. A new book from the American Museum of Natural History, this is similar in concept and format to Baby Penguin's First Waddles (2018) and Baby Dolphin's First Swim (2017). An attractive addition for preschool and primary-grade units on elephants." --Booklist

"An elephant herd gets a new member when a female calf is born. She learns to stand, swim, roll in the mud, and play with friends. Through stunning color photography, commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History, this title captures the landscape of the African savanna and the milestones of the adorable baby elephant as she grows up with her herd. Using a loose linear time line of the calf's life, the book offers facts about elephants and how they survive in the wild in easy-to-read text on pastel color blocks. . . . the story . . . comes full circle as the calf becomes an adult and welcomes the next generation of elephants. VERDICT A lovely choice for early nonfiction collections." -- School Library Journal

"Wildlife photographs document the life of an elephant on the African savannah from newborn calf to 15-year-old adult. A gentle narrative details the calf's early years spent protected by the herd, drinking her mother's milk, and learning what it is to be an elephant. Photos show the elephants on the move ('the herd has to keep moving to find enough leaves, roots, grasses, fruits, and bark for all to eat'), greeting and playing with one another, and forming a united front in the face of a predator lion. Facts about elephant behavior and anatomy are integrated throughout the descriptive text: 'made of almost 50,000 muscles, including two "fingers" at the end, an elephant's trunk is a very useful tool.' When the elephant is a full-grown adult, the story comes full circle with the birth of a new calf: 'Together, with flapping ears and loud trumpet sounds, they welcome their newest member.'" --Publishers Weekly

Author Bio

The American Museum of Natural History in New York City is one of the largest and most respected museums in the world, with an annual attendance of five million. Since the Museum was founded in 1869, its collections have grown to include more than 33 million specimens and artifacts relating to the natural world and human cultures. The Museum showcases its collections in the exhibit halls and, behind the scenes, more than 200 scientists carry out cutting-edge research. Plan a trip to the Museum, home of the world's largest collection of dinosaur fossils, or visit online at amnh.org.