Anushka Ravishankar, illustrated by Christiane Pieper,
Elephants Never Forget
Houghton Mifflin, 2008.

Ages 4-8

Elephants Never Forget was originally published in 2007 by Tara Books, India. Although the U.S. edition lacks the marvelous handmade papers that distinguish Tara publications, the quality of this picture book otherwise lives up to the original. Right from the cover illustration - a baby elephant showering some water buffalo - it promises and delivers delight.

A lost baby elephant discovers a buffalo herd in the river. "With a buffalo calf/ He tumbled and wallowed./ The buffalo led./ And the elephant followed." Anushka Ravishankar's poetry captures the cadences of Indian-inflected English in her account of a lost little one who finds a home with an unlikely tribe. "He could only trumpet, not bellow, and yet/ He liked being a buffalo, muddy and wet." Later, when some thirsty elephants happen by, the baby has to make a choice. "In the end, the answer was plain -/ A buffalo he would always remain!"

Both Ravishankar, who lives in New Delhi, and illustrator Christiane Pieper, who is German, have won many awards for their work, and in this their second collaboration (following Alphabets Are Amazing Animals), Pieper's illustrations and fonts brilliantly interpret and reinforce Ravishankar's lively text. In black and white and watery periwinkle on a creamy background, woodblock-like images capture the vibrant lives of the animals. The many toots and bellows, sploshes and splatters that comprise the forest and river soundscape are rendered in swirling, variable-sized letters. The simple color palette focuses the emotional energy of the story. The visual effect is a fresh, contemporary look (for example, the river shore is a periwinkle plane, enlivened with many small creamy rectangles that read as sparkles) accompanied by adorable, distinctive animal portraits.

"His ears were too large,/ His nose was too long,/ His shape was quite odd,/ And his color all wrong" but the baby elephant finds that acceptance is the essence of belonging and home in this beautifully produced book that will be treasured long into the future. In the homes of many heavy readers, most children's books rightly come from the library; this is one story many families will want to own for themselves.

Charlotte Richardson
September 2008