Unwrapping
TO CATCH AN ELEPHANT
Authored and illustrated by Vanessa Westgate
* Age Range: 4-7
* Grade Level: PS-2
* Paperback: 40 pages
* Publisher: Clavis
* Pub. Date: June 25, 2019
* Language: English
From the Author
"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!”
Unwrapping some illustrations for you to enjoy
Unwrapping the story
“If you want to catch an elephant, first you must find out where elephants live . . .”
And that is exactly what the little boy in the story did. He targets Africa for his destination country. His dream is to have an elephant as a pet. Can he achieve his goal? Will it be an easy task to find one, capture one, then bring one home to enjoy?
The little boy successfully nets a baby elephant. The elephant herd tries to rescue it but to no avail. The boy then transports his catch by a safari vehicle to the airport where a photo is an absolute must and of course the elephant will need a passport. He loads the pachyderm on a jumbo jet and a BIG truck awaits his arrival to ship them both to the boy's home.
Sadly the boy discovers that the little elephant doesn't fit into his new surroundings (literally), and the neighbours are not amused at his antics. The baby elephant isn't assimilating well and in his despair he refuses to eat. This makes the boy realize that it was a mistake to take him out of his natural habitat where he was carefree and ever so happy. The baby wants his family and his country back so much. He is heartbroken.
The boy has a hard choice to make. Should he carry on trying to look after the sad little elephant or should he give up his dream and take the baby back to his home in Africa? What is the right thing to do?
The illustrations are bright, action-packed and very kid-friendly. The message it leaves with the reader is: "Home is where the heart is" and the little elephant's heart is with his family and herd back in Africa, his rightful home for sure.
Storywraps Rating - 4 HUGS!!!!
Meet the author/illustrator
Born in England, Vanessa Westgate grew up in the U.K. and then moved to New York to pursue a life in art (and a boyfriend). She has been a textile designer, a photographer, a travel writer/photographer, a ceramic artist, a painter, a geographer and an environmentalist. Now she lives and works in Los Angeles and writes and illustrates picture books for children. She is a member of SCBWI.
"I love to create stories for children. The combination of words and art is so exciting. What I try to do is tell a story very simply about something that is very complex, and in so doing I try to show the truth and beauty of it, and perhaps create a sense of wonder in that." My stories are often inspired by nature and I hope that children will learn to love nature too.
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