Mother To elephants by RG de Rouen is beautifully illustrated picture book that tells the true story of Daphne Sheldrick. It is written in an easy to read way that children of all ages will enjoy and would recommend it to animal lovers.

Daphne Sheldrick grew up in close company with the animals of Kenya. When she marries David Sheldrick, they both devote themselves to conserving the wildlife of Kenya at a wildlife preserve. When she is brought an orphaned elephant to save, she tries her best but the elephant becomes too attached to her and when she has to go away for a few days, the elephant doesn't eat and dies. Daphne learns from her mistakes and goes on to develop a successful orphaned elephant program.

Pretty decent and easily-read look at the life of Daphne Sheldrick. The volume eventually admits she and her organisation cared for other critters, but this certainly concentrates on her attempts to preserve African elephants, both in battling poaching, providing vet services for the beasts and looking after orphaned victims of the ivory trade. This shows how one such baby imprinted on Daphne so much that it pined away when she needed to be elsewhere, and so the more modern thinking of how to create independent, releasable elephant juniors was developed.

Throughout, the whole thing looks gentle, amenable and pretty – and so does Daphne, in a range of frocks that don't really appear that suitable for work in the wild. One of her ensembles comes with a chain of pearls – it's a surprise to see her in flats. That aside, this is a decent tribute to the lady, and the data that we close with on her success stories are proof alone why we should cherish her memory, and take on board this little evidence of what we all can do.

A beautifully illustrated book, which is based on the story of Daphne Sheldrick. This would make a perfect gift for children, and adults, who love elephants. Daphne was devoted to raising orphan elephants and I was lucky to visit the sanctuary in Nairobi in 2023. It's a beautiful book which I can highly recommend. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

Thank you @netgalley for my review copy of this children's biography.

It is a lovely read and based on someone I didn't know about, so even I learnt something when reading this one.

Beautiful colourful illustrations accompany the story and it is a highly enjoyable read.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

"A wild animal is only borrowed,' her father reminded her, "If you truly love it, you must set it free when nature calls."

Mother To Elephants is a beautifully illustrated picture book story based on the true story of Daphne Sheldrick. As a lover of elephants, I just had to read this, and it brought so many emotions to the surface - happiness, compassion, sadness, and inspiration. The illustrations are adorable, and the story is easy to understand and follow for children. Discussions can take place through the course of this book to discuss more what happened and why. At the back of the book, there's fun information and facts children will definitely enjoy learning about.

A super cute book about saving baby elephants in the wild. Great for toddlers and/or preschoolers. Very well written with fun pictures to keep kids engaged.

I had never heard of the wonderful woman this book is about, but this book was so interesting. I love how she was so committed to helping elephants. I think it is a good book for kids.

What a sweet and informative book. A truly special story. I learned so much about a new historical figure. I love the guide to learn more at the end of the book as well as more about elephants.

As many nature documentaries as I've watched, I cannot believe I did not know about Dame Sheldrick and her work with orphaned elephants in Africa.

Immediately after reading this sweet book, I looked her up and spent the next few hours watching interviews and documentaries about her and her team's efforts to not only care for baby elephants, but also getting them back into the wild. Needless to say, I needed several tissues due to the beauty of it all.

Mother to Elephants is an informative, lovely read with beautiful illustrations that will not only inspire the young minds that read it (or have it read to them), but also the adults. Shows what one person can do to put positive back into the world.

I also featured this book on my Book Picks Segment on San Antonio Living, October 2023.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In my class of elephant lovers, this is the perfect book to add to my collection. This well written biography shows the importance of studying and caring for elephants and the path one woman took to do so.

I loved this book and that I was able to share my love of brilliant animal rescuers with my children. The illustrations were beautiful and engaging, and I appreciated the honesty in the book. I also loved there were facts and ways to help at the end of the book as well. Perfect book for fostering a love, appreciation, and respect for animals!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a great short picture book, and will be so useful for introducing children to animal care and Daphne Sheldrick. I also really liked the fact there is some facts, a further explanation to Sheldrick’s life and even a section on what kids can do to help at the end of the story too.

Fun fact, before I was an accountant, I worked in marketing for a luxury safari company based in Tanzania. Appropriating someone else's land for the use of conservation is a conversation for another time, but I know a bit more about the subject than your Regular Joe.

Tanzania certainly isn't Kenya, and I didn't know Daphne Sheldrick's story, but it was lovely to read about nonetheless. This is obviously for children, but as said before, the white savior motif is to be seen throughout. That is not to say that she didn't do good work with elephants. I just tend to look at these things from a critical eye.

However, if you're here to buy this for your children, or children you know, the illustrations are beautiful, and the story is mostly heartwarming.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

R.G. de Rouen's illustrated children's book is a biography of the late Dame Daphne Sheldrick who focused her attention on the care of orphaned elephants. This book tells her story accompanied by some wonderful illustrations. Rouen does a solid job of telling Dame Daphne's fondness for elephants, and how through trial and error she developed the best way to care for them. Kids will understand the whole process, and why Sheldrick created the project to meet the needs of each elephant. There's a list of important facts at the end of the book that teachers could copy out for their students as this gives a lot of important information.

I wish Rouen had spent another page or two on the young Daphne and I am also not sure young children will know understand the idea of poaching so that could have been explained in a child-friendly way within the narrative (it's explained in the facts section at the end of the book though). With those reservations aside, I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to instil a love of animals into their children or students.

Young readers will enjoy this biography of Daphne Sheldrick, a woman who dedicated her life to saving orphaned elephants. The style of text and illustrations is simple which fits this biography intended for children. As an adult reader, I learned about this hero for the first time and found the end pages to be fascinating making me want to learn more about her.

I did not know anything about Daphne Sheldrick before I read this beautiful picture book. Now that I have read it, I have gone down a rabbit hole about her and her elephant orphanage. I do like how this nonfiction picture book shows that mistakes were made, changes were made and the whole process of taking care of orphaned elephants was revised and made better over time.

Also - the fact that elephant orphanages exist is tragic. The ivory trade is despicable. I am glad this picture book address this problem and gives children ways to help resolve the issue.

The elefacts at the end were super informative and relevant.

*Trigger Warning: this picture book is not all sunshine and rainbows. There is an elephant death and it made me tear up.

When I saw the description, I knew I had to read it. I love elephants and am a sponsor to an orphaned elephant at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. So, this book has a special meaning to me.

I love Ms. Sheldrick's work for the elephants. This book is packed with interesting facts about her life and her trials and errors in helping wildlife. It is also beautifully illustrated with watercolour paintings.

This is a perfect book for any young child in love with elephants or for introducing kids to the need for animal conservation. This non-fiction account of Daphne Sheldrick and her devotion to raising orphaned elephants in Kenya is beautifully illustrated and also offers interesting elephant facts and ways kids can get involved in protecting these gentle giants.

Warning: the story realistically includes animal death, so conversation on that topic may be needed for some younger readers.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

"A wild animal is only borrowed...If you truly love it, you must set it free when nature calls."

Having grown up on a farm in Kenya, Daphne felt the wonder of nature everywhere. Her marriage to David Sheldrick was a true partnership focusing on a shared love for animals. They were both partial to elephants.

Orphaned elephants were challenging to raise, "no one had yet perfected the husbandry needed to see them through their fragile infancy." Daphne created an Orphan Project, bottle feeding the youngest orphans with her specially formulated milk. She hired and trained a rotating staff so the orphaned elephants would not be solely dependent upon one keeper. An elephant never forgets. How amazing that former orphans travelled miles to visit Daphne and her keepers with their own children in tow!

"Mother to Elephants: The Story of Daphne Sheldrick" by R.G. de Rouen is a biography, written especially for children, highlighting the remarkable life of Dame Daphne Sheldrick who was recognized for "rescuing, raising and reintegrating" over 300 orphaned elephants, often victims of poachers, droughts or animal conflict in the wild. Love and nurturing, provided by Daphne and staff, allowed the young charges to successfully transition back to the wild.

Elephant Fun Facts were an added delight. Did you know that an elephant can be right tusked or left tusked just as humans are right or left handed? A highly recommended read for young and old alike!

Thank you BooksGoSocial and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.