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.

Train to Somewhere

Bunting, E. (1996). Train to somewhere. New York, NY: Clarion Books.

Reflection Here 

Train to Somewhere, inspired by a chapter of American History, imagines a journey on one of the many "Orphan Trains" that, between the mid-1850s and the late 1920s, brought children from New York City orphanages to adoptive families in the West. The narrator of this heart-wrenching story is Marianne, who boards the train in New York with 13 other children and Miss Randolph, their caretaker, to be taken in by people in the country towns at which they stop. Marianne is older and knows she will be difficult to adopt since she's not cute or pretty. Those more physically appealing, younger children, and the stronger older ones are taken first. At each town the children put on their most cheerful faces and each time there are fewer and fewer to re-board the train. Marianne clings to a chicken feather and the hope that her mother who promised to come back for her before leaving her at the orphanage will be waiting for her at one of the stops. Finally, it is Marianne alone who gets off the train at Somewhere with Miss Randolph. Will her mother be there waiting, will anyone even be waiting at this stop, or will she find a family to adopt her? There's one way to find out, and that is for yourself. I warn you, this is a very touching book, but I strongly suggest taking the time to read it.

The illustrations in this book are excellent and the pictures are very realistic and follows extremely close to the story line. Illustrations, from what I can tell, were done in watercolor.