To Catch an Elephant

by Vanessa Westgate

Overview

"A light, humorous, step-by-step adventure—on safari to the suburbs and back again—as the intrepid hunter realizes that, perhaps just maybe, wild animals are best suited for life in the wild." - Foreword Reviews

“If you want to catch an elephant, first you must find out where elephants live . . .”

So begins this tale of a boy and his quest for a pet elephant.

But maybe catching an elephant isn’t as simple as it sounds . . .

A delightful and compassionate story for elephant lovers ages 4 years and up.

• Guided Reading Level K

At Clavis, our focus is on what’s best for children. We believe that books play an important role in each new phase in life. Our toddler books are tailored for every stage from 0 to 3 and focus on the five most important themes in their life: daily life, skills, emotions, the world, and language development. The age range and theme of every book in our toddler series can be found on the back cover in the form of a colored train.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781605374321
Publisher:	Clavis
Publication date:	06/25/2019
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.84(w) x 10.20(h) x (d)
Lexile:	620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 9 Years

About the Author

Vanessa Westgate grew up in England and moved to New York when she was twenty-two to become an artist. She loves to travel and later she became a travel writer and photographer. Now she lives in Los Angeles and writes and illustrates picture books for children. She has a B/A in geography and especially loves to write about nature and animals and she hopes to inspire children to cherish the amazing world around us. When not working she enjoys hiking in the mountains and along the coast in beautiful southern California.

Interviews

"The first time I saw elephants in the wild I wanted to write a story about them. I was on safari in Tanzania and one morning we had gone out early to look for wildlife," says author Vanessa Westgate. "We had stopped the jeep on a dirt road and suddenly we were surrounded by a herod of wild elephants. It was thrilling! They took no notice of us. The adult elephants were busy eating, and the young ones were playing and racing about having fun. They all seemed happy living free. We were mesmerized. We could even hear them chewing! The baby elephants were so endearing we wanted to take one home with us... but of course we could not! Instead I took home a story... To Catch An Elephant!"

Editorial Reviews

2019-03-17
A child in a pith helmet goes hunting for elephants.

A white boy with blue hair resembling grass heads to Africa and hires a guide, who also appears to be white, and in a zebra-patterned vehicle they set off to catch an elephant. When the boy and his guide find their prey minding his own business and eating breakfast, the text strongly cautions against bothering an elephant. Nevertheless, the boy successfully nets him, and the elephant's herd's attempts to rescue their family member are to no avail. Once home, the elephant doesn't fit anywhere and becomes a general nuisance to the boy's neighbors. Eventually, the elephant becomes homesick and refuses to eat, which is when the boy has an epiphany that the elephant should be with his family. Reuniting the elephant with his family proves to be difficult, as "all elephant herds tend to look alike." The boy is heartbroken to leave the elephant, and the elephant is depicted as crying for its captor, but the boy consoles himself with the belief that the elephant is "back home in Africa where he belongs." This unfortunate book, painted in cheerful yellows and blues, completely overlooks the reality that poaching and rehoming have rendered African elephants near extinction. Reading the elephant as a metaphor for African humans, it's even more unfortunate. With many countries throughout the continent of Africa struggling to reclaim the resources and dignity stolen for generations, this book plays it for laughs.

A hard pass. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews

"Barefoot but equipped with a helmet and binoculars, a khaki-clad youngster embarks on a hypothetical mission to capture a free-ranging African elephant to tame as a pet. Soft, flowing lines in sunny shades of yellow and blue accompany a light, humorous, step-by-step adventure—on safari to the suburbs and back again—as the intrepid hunter realizes that, perhaps just maybe, wild animals are best suited for life in the wild." - Foreword Reviews

"This book is a funny story about the things one should consider before catching an elephant. Young readers will enjoy the predictable storyline as well as the colorful illustrations. As an educator,I liked that the storyline contained a variety of new vocabulay words.
I would recommend this book for a 4-6 years old reading audience." - Heather Gates (Educator)

"This story is very cute! The illustrations are very bright and casual and doodly. A boy decides he wants a pet elephant, and goes to Africa to get one and bring him home. Everything goes well until 2/3rds of the way through the story when the elephant starts to fade a bit. Then he brings the elephant back to his family where he belongs. This would be a great story for children who are always asking for exotic pets or wild animals, and it explains why it is best to leave them be. (They use the word “roam” and while it is a nice opportunity to expand a child’s vocabulary, the story may be served better with a different choice there.) The language is conversational which is a big hit with a lot of children. I could see this working well with storytime. There are different modes of transportation that children will recognize." - Christine Clear (Librarian)

"Lovely illustrated, meaningful story about why you should not capture an elephant and take him from his home." - Shell Peddle (Educator)

From the Publisher

06/14/2019

PreS-Gr 1-In straightforward language, a child narrator explains that after arriving in "elephant country," readers will need a guide, patience, and a good trap in order to catch an elephant. In subsequent pages, the story details how to net the animal, outrun the rest of the herd, get the elephant a passport, and board a jumbo jet. Once home in a suburban neighborhood, the child explains that the elephant will get homesick, refuse food, become sad and lonely, and a doctor will report that the elephant should be taken back "to Africa as soon as possible." Alongside childlike illustrations in crayon, pen, and watercolor, the text is an attempted mixture of adventure and comedy. And while the final page reveals, "And in the end, you would realize how happy animals are living wild and free," this story is unfortunate and poorly executed—one that completely dismisses the actuality of Africa's wildlife poaching crisis. VERDICT A misguided, problematic picture book that inadvertently raises more issues than it resolves with regard to wildlife conservation.-Brianne Colombo, Fairfield Free Public Library, NJ

School Library Journal

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