Elephants of Africa by Gail Gibbons. New York: Holiday House, 2008. Available now.
Gail Gibbons has been doing illustrated nonfiction books for years. Gradually the size of them has grown larger. I'm hoping the publisher sticks with this size, because any larger and they will no longer fit on library shelves.
Her double page spreads show the elephants in action, in the wild -- eating, moving in herds, care of the young. She even shows a cut-a-way of the very thick skin with an explanation of why it is necessary. Since these are African elephants, she also extols the practicality of having very large ears.
More blurbs of information are on the last page.
My only complaint is that the painting covers the whole page. Therefore the words, most of which run along the bottom of the page, overlap the grass or mud or water, whatever she is showing on that spread -- which could make them difficult to read for young readers. (It was even difficult for these old eyes.)
For elephant fans of all ages.
More Nonfiction Monday messages are here.
-wendie Old
1 comment:
Interesting comment about the trim size. I've heard writers and librarians talk about the fact that having an oversized book means you COULD get put faceout on display since you don't fit on the shelf...or you COULD get stuck somewhere else entirely, away from potential readers. Big is nice, but I'd hate to get stuck away somewhere else!
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