Faithful Elephants: A True Story of Animals, People and War

Tsuchiya, Y., & Lewin, T. (1988). Faithful elephants: A true story of animals, people, and war. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

Reflection Here

Faithful Elephants is the story of a zoo in Japan during World War II. City officials worry that if the city is bombed, the zoo animals may escape and cause more damage. The zoo is forced to euthanize all the animals by the Army, but the elephants are too smart to eat the poisoned food, and their skin is too touch for hypodermic needles. What will zoo keepers do now? How will they kill the elephants, or will they? Zoo keepers were successful in killing a tiger, bear, lion, and large snake as this can be witnessed on a double-page spread illustration.

I can think of many activities this book could be used with in the curriculum. However, with the emphasis Common Core Standards have put on writing, it is crucial to have student begin writing strategies as soon as possible. I could use this book for letter writing. Letter writing through a character's point of view helps children empathize with characters and think deeply about their choices. After students read Faithful Elephants," we could discuss the characters. Students could be ask questions like, "How did the zookeepers feel about the war?" or "What else could have been done to save the animals?" After the discussion, students could write a letter to a friend or family member from the viewpoint of one of the characters describing how war has affected his or her life. In stories like Faithful Elephants where major characters are animals, students could write from the animals' perspectives as well.