The Elephant Scientist - Caitlin O'Connell and Donna M. Jackson

Not many people know where Namibia is. Even less people have a personal connection to it. But Cailtin O'Connell has a personal connection to it - the elephants that she loves live in Etosha National Park. And I have a personal connection to it - my big sister spent a year there, in Swakopmund, teaching with Harvard's WorldTeach. You can see in the map below the purple line drawn between Swakopmund (my sister's homebase for a year) and Etosha National Park (Caitlin's research site). 

That's the reason I really connected with this book when I picked it up out of the pile of books that Dr. Johnson spread on the table in class for us today. And once I picked it up and opened the page, I was amazed at every piece of it - the insane quality of the photographs, the detail in the writing, the changes in page layouts that kept me interested, and personal touches and stories that Caitlin includes. Even though this story is told in the third person (assumedly by Donna M. Jackson), Caitlin's voice shines through in the love that is woven through the words, regardless of whether they include her dialogue or not. 

The biggest strength of The Elephant Scientist for me was the photography and how clear it was. All of the pictures made me as a reader (and I'm sure would make children reading it as well) feel as if I was in Etosha National Park with Caitlin, picking up dung samples, studying family networks and herds, and setting up camp with other researchers. The table of contents lays out for us as readers the type of information that will be covered in each section, whether it will be different descriptions of species of elephants ("Living Large"), breakdowns of families ("The Herds of Etosha"), or explaining the potential of what could happen to elephants if we aren't educated about them ("Elephants in Peril"). Each section/chapter has powerful photos, each described by a detailed caption that can be easily understood by children.  

In the back of the book, there are many different resources that confirm The Elephant Scientist's place as a quality information book - including an "Adopt an Elephant" section, information for more references for children (and adults, too!), pachyderm terms, selected source notes, and an index. I had to look up what the word "pachyderm" even meant, proving that even adults can learn from an information book like this. In case you were wondering, the word "pachyderm" refers to an order of animals that includes elephants, rhinoceroses, and hippopotami. The references available for this book were incredibly extensive, however, I wouldn't expect any less from someone like Caitlin O'Connell. She has been a lead researcher and even written for the New York Times, discussing the different "Rules of Engagement in the Elephant World" (check it out, here!). 

I'll end with a picture of my sister sandboarding in Namibia - kind of crazy to think that one country can have it all - grasslands, desert, ocean, and a jungle. 

Rebecca sand-boarding in 2006 in the Red Dunes