The Elephant's Child by Rudyard Kipling

 

The Elephant's Child By Rudyard Kipling

Summary: In this book elephants do not have long trunks like they do now, instead they have large, bulgy nose. This was until a young elephant is filled with curiosity, so much so that it could fill all of Africa, changed everything. The elephant's child would always be scolded for the many questions he asked, but he never let is discourage him. One day he asked his family a question that he has never thought of before: "What does a crocodile have for dinner?". After his entire family scolds him for asking such a question he meets a Kolokolo bird who tells him where he can find a crocodile. So, the young elephant packs his things, says good-bye to his family, and sets off in search of the crocodile down in the Limpopo river. There is only one problem, he has no idea what a crocodile looks like, and once he reaches the river he has to ask a python where the crocodile is, but the python gets mad at him for asking such a question. After walking around he sits down on a log, only to discover it was actually the crocodile he had been searching for. However, things did not turn out the way the young elephant thought they would because right after he asks the crocodile his question, the crocodile tried to eat him, pulling down on the elephants nose, stretching it and stretching it. Eventually the python he met earlier came to help him get free. After they got away from the crocodile, the young elephant's nose was is a lot of pain, so he waited three days for it to feel nomal again but it never did. Now, the elephant's child had a long trunk, but he didn't now how to use it. Fortunatly, the python decided to help the young elephant learn the new things he could do with his new trunk. When he returned home his whole family was so amazed by what they saw that they all went down to visit the crocodile to get one.

In Reality: I would love to read this book in class room because I would think that the character is someone they can relate to. At this age they are constantly asking questions and a lot of they can be scolded for it, but in this book we get to see someone who did not give up and who's curiosity actually helped everyone. Its importat the children are able to see themselves in characters, and know that its okay to be curious, even if no one wants to answer your questions. This book would be most appropriate for ages 4 to 6 year olds.You could use this book in a lesson where you are teaching students about why its import to ask questions.