Elephants Can Paint Too!

by Katya Arnold

Book Review

School Library Journal :

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PreS-Gr 3–When Thailand recently began to conserve trees that previously would have been harvested, domesticated elephants lost their jobs hauling lumber. Subsequently, many died of neglect because they could no longer earn their keep. This book highlights an unusual project implemented by the author. In simple text, she explains that she teaches art in two schools, one urban and one in the jungle, and that some of her students have hands. Others have trunks. Then tells how she trains elephants to paint and compares the work of her human and elephant pupils. The spare narrative is easy to understand and reads like a picture book. Additional facts about the elephants and techniques are provided in boxed sections. This title demonstrates animal behavior in a similar style to Ron Hirschi's Dance with Me (Penguin, 1995) and Bert Kitchen's Somewhere Today (Candlewick, 1992; both o.p.). Arnold's amusing and colorful photographs–of elephants and children at work–will have readers laughing as they view them side-by-side. This fun-to-share offering would make a creative segue into a discussion about the plight of endangered species. An author's note provides information about the project and explains that the paintings are sold under the auspices of the Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project to obtain revenue that can support the efforts to save these wonderful creatures.–Kirsten Cutler, Sonoma Library, CA

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: BookList :

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Gr. 1-3. Some elephants can paint! Arnold's unusual picture book centers on a group of pachyderms that do just that. They live in Thailand, where the slowing of the logging industry prompted the need to find alternative sources of funding for elephant care. Arnold, an art teacher, juxtaposes human art students with the painting pachyderms in an effective presentation in which brief, matter-of-fact text contrasts hilariously with full-color photographs of elephants delicately gripping paintbrushes in their giant trunks, mischievously dunking their artwork in the river, and, occasionally, painting one another. It all looks like great fun, with the elephants making a mess just as kids do. In addition to the silliness, there's some factual information--for example, an elephant's trunk has 150,000 muscles, but the human body has only 639. An author's note provides information about the nonprofit Asian Elephant Art and Conservation Project, which sells the work of elephant artists.
DianeFoote.

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