- Hardcover: 32 pages
- Publisher: Dutton Children Books; 1 edition (Jun 7 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0525472886
- ISBN-13: 978-0525472889
- Product Dimensions: 26.2 x 20.6 x 0.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 318 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#631,481 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #24 in Books > Children's Books > Animals > Elephants > Nonfiction
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Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 4–Readers can learn about an endangered species and the culture of an Asian country in this engaging photo-essay. Large, colorful photographs enhance the text as Sobol introduces a four-year-old domesticated Asian elephant that lives in Tha Klang, Thailand. Raised by her human family and schooled by a full-time trainer, Wan Pen will eventually earn money by taking visitors on tours of the village. Children will delight in discovering how the animal spends her day, and that her favorite pastime is playing soccer with her human siblings and their friends. The text is packed with interesting tidbits about these large mammals ("just one day's worth of food would fill an entire garage") and day-to-day life in Tha Klang (where the dirt and gravel of the unpaved roads have mixed with droppings to create an "elephant-poop highway"). The vivid photos show Wan Pen interacting with her caregivers, present colorful images of the village and its people, and capture the beauty of the verdant landscape. Additional facts about elephants are appended. A fine introduction to a special place where elephants live safely with humans.–Blair Christolon, Prince William Public Library System, Manassas, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
PreS-Gr. 2. Photojournalist Sobol contributes both words and stunning color photographs in this introduction to elephants that visits on a village in Thailand, Tha Klang, where elephants are trained during a period of years to perform for tourists. Sobol focuses on a four-year-old elephant that attends school and receives snacks and affection from the children in her human family. The color images don't always match the words: the text above an image of a woman doing laundry reads, "For the children of Tha Klang, elephants are part of their families." But Sobol uses accessible, casual language to weave in plenty of interesting facts: local roads, for example, are a mixture of elephant dung, mud, and gravel--an "elephant poop highway," which Sobol allows "may sound gross" but actually forms "the perfect coating for a country road." It's the intimate color images of elephants and Thai kids side-by-side that will really capture an audience. A final page of elephant facts closes this attractive offering, which will be a great nonfiction story-hour choice. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
In most neighborhoods, elephants are way too big to keep in the backyard. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
In most neighborhoods, elephants are way too big to keep in the backyard. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Favourite Book by Sobol,
By
This review is from: Elephant In The Backyard (Hardcover)
Reason for Reading: I am reading the author's entire backlist with my son and discussing the life of a photographer/photojournalist as a career option while doing so.This was my son's and my favourite book by Richard Sobol to date and we only have two more on his backlist to go. A wonderful story of a village in Thailand called Tha Klang, which has domesticated elephants roaming freely. It is not unusual for each family to have their own elephant. While elephants are plenty in Thailand, Tha Klang is unique in its domesticated elephants. The book follows one family, specifically the brother and sister, and their elephant Wan Pen, along with her trainer Choy. She is 4 years old now but when she is older she will help earn money for the family by giving visitors rides on her back and performing tricks. This will help the family earn money for food and pay for school for the children. A delightful story where we learn so much about the life of a domesticated elephant who is loved as dearly as a Westerner's pet cat or dog. We watch as Wan Pen is trained, plays with her family, plays soccer with the neighborhood children and loves to be hosed down. While it is a simple story, there is an amazing amount of information about elephants imparted through the telling of the story. The photographs are to-die-for, absolutely wonderful, cute, funny and majestic. My son was trying to explain to me why this book was different from all the other Sobol books and one of the reasons he enjoyed it so much, when I finally realized he was telling me in his own words that this book was written in the third person, while Sobol's other books are usually written in the first person! Wonderful book! While copies are still available at amazon.ca, the book otherwise appears out of print. Definitely time for a reprint, I'd say. Doesn't look as if it's been released in paperback so that would be the perfect way to go.
5.0 out of 5 stars
CR,
By
This review is from: Elephant In The Backyard (Hardcover)
The photographs in this book are stunning and bring to life the simple life of the village. The text lets us in on a daily life that is far different than many of us know with the wonder of having an elephant to train and love in your own backyard. Beautiful and fun for everyone.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.7 out of 5 stars (7 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Book about Thailand and Its Culture of Elephants,
By K. Row "Bibliophile" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Elephant In The Backyard (Hardcover)
The six-year-old American children I bought this book for absolutely love it. They're amazed to see children their own age treat elephants as family pets. The book has terrific pictures, and the text is oftentimes humorous; the bit about the "elephant poop roads" never fails to garner giggles.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Our Favourite Book by Sobol,
By Nicola Manning - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: An Elephant in the Backyard (Hardcover)
Reason for Reading: I am reading the author's entire backlist with my son and discussing the life of a photographer/photojournalist as a career option while doing so.This was my son's and my favourite book by Richard Sobol to date and we only have two more on his backlist to go. A wonderful story of a village in Thailand called Tha Klang, which has domesticated elephants roaming freely. It is not unusual for each family to have their own elephant. While elephants are plenty in Thailand, Tha Klang is unique in its domesticated elephants. The book follows one family, specifically the brother and sister, and their elephant Wan Pen, along with her trainer Choy. She is 4 years old now but when she is older she will help earn money for the family by giving visitors rides on her back and performing tricks. This will help the family earn money for food and pay for school for the children. A delightful story where we learn so much about the life of a domesticated elephant who is loved as dearly as a Westerner's pet cat or dog. We watch as Wan Pen is trained, plays with her family, plays soccer with the neighborhood children and loves to be hosed down. While it is a simple story, there is an amazing amount of information about elephants imparted through the telling of the story. The photographs are to-die-for, absolutely wonderful, cute, funny and majestic. My son was trying to explain to me why this book was different from all the other Sobol books and one of the reasons he enjoyed it so much, when I finally realized he was telling me in his own words that this book was written in the third person, while Sobol's other books are usually written in the first person! Wonderful book! While copies are still available at amazon.ca, the book otherwise appears out of print. Definitely time for a reprint, I'd say. Doesn't look as if it's been released in paperback so that would be the perfect way to go.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great for talking about Thailand,
By elsathedog - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Elephant In The Backyard (Hardcover)
We have an adopted son form Thailand. This book was ideal to stimulate discusion about his birth country. Its also a rather lovely story with beautiful photographs
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