Review: Elephant Talk

Book: Elephant Talk: The Science of Elephant Communication by Ann Downer
Published by Twenty First Century Publishers, available March 1, 2011
I got this as an ARC via Netgalley (as an ebook)

This book is a nonfiction YA title about the science of how elephants communicate and the people that work with and love elephants.

I decided that I wanted to read this book because I adore elephants. I had a high school world studies teacher who went on and on about war elephants (pronounced ella-FANTS). Plus, who doesn't love the movie Dumbo? So chances are you love elephants too.

I got this in an ebook format, which usually takes me awhile to get through, but I breezed through this book in an evening. It's set up like a typical middle school science text book. There is the actual text, plus tons of pictures, diagrams and profiles of keepers, researchers etc. The text was broken up with other information that it never even began to get tedious, which can be a problem with textbooks. It was so fascinating. I loved it so much. Some of the facts I already new, but there was so much new information, I think I love elephants more than I did before.

I think that this is such a great book for YA, it could definitely be a stepping stone to get them into more non-fiction reading. The formatting is great, even the more complex terms are broken down for them. Also, there is information on how elephants as laborers had progressed throughout the ages. Even if you're an adult you may want to pick this one up. But I think that the best part of this book is the pictures. They will touch your heart if nothing else about this book does.

I give this one 4 dog-eared pages.