As a elephant lover i thoroughly enjoyed this cute and sweet little book! perfect for children. Highly recommend. Illustrations are beautifully done. Quick and easy read.

This lovely little book tells a story about the life of conservationist Daphne Sheldrick and her enormously important work with elephants.

Having grown up in the Rift Valley in Kenya, Daphne always felt a strong bond with nature - something that continued after her marriage to her equally nature-loving husband, David, who was the head warden at the Tsavo National Park.

Daphne's life's work included the raising and re-wilding of baby elephants orphaned after their mothers had been killed by poachers. This part of the book contains some touching stories.

This is a great book to share with young children, to give them an appreciation of nature and wildlife. There are some very interesting facts about African elephants at the end of the book, which I really enjoyed learning about - like the fact that they can be right or left-tusked!

The text in the book is easy to follow, and while I felt that the depiction of humans in the illustrations could have been better, the drawings of the animals are good, especially the baby elephants. I give it 3.5 stars.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and to NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

This was a sweet little book about a woman who rescues orphaned elephants. I loved the illustrations and thought it was a really sweet story.

First off, I loved the pictures, the illustration was gorgeous. I enjoyed the story itself too and the concept of caring for things in the wild with the intent of returning them to the wild as soon as possible. I did think it got a little wordy for a children’s story and trimming down the verbiage could help with the flow.

This is a very sweet book about Daphne Sheldrick, who cared for orphaned wild elephants and learned how to help them grow. It has some sad moments, like when the baby elephant she was successfully caring for died when she went away for a few days, so be prepared for elephant-loving sensitive kids to be sad. Most of the story is happy and successful moments however.

The illustrations are straight out of an old-fashioned Golden Book. Maybe because this story took place in the past? (It doesn't mention a year, but the Daphne is portrayed caring for elephants while wearing 50's style dresses and pearls.) They work for the story, though.

Any elephant-loving kid will love this. It doesn't go into a whole lot of detail, again, it's about the same text level as a Golden Book, but it is a sweet story about elephants and the people who love them.

My elephant-loving 9-year-old will love it, I'm sure. I'll be reading it to him as one of our next bedtime books.

*Thanks to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing an early copy for review.

Mother to Elephants is an impactful story about Daphne, a woman determined to help the elephants in Africa. While it may not be for everyone, since some may not want to introduce their children to such a "harsh" subject. I still think everyone should read this one. It shows the realities of the poor elephants in a very tasteful and subtle way. I can see this working well as a book to start discussions on poachers, orphaned animals, animal abuse, etc. This has alot of similar topics and themes as The One and Only series from Katherine Applegate. This book (As well as "Ivan the Remarkable True Story" could be great in conjunction with or even act as an easy introduction to the themes presented in the series.

The world is so heavy today when I saw this book I had to read it for some uplifting inspiration.
Based on the real life story of animal rescuer Daphne Sheldrick, it’s a quick read with an important message: save the elephants.
The drawings are just darling and I wanted to cuddle each and every elephant in the book.
Elephants are one of the most fascinating creatures and secretly I would love to care for a little baby elephant.
Reading this book will bring a smile to your face.

Dame Daphne Sheldrick's true love was animals—raised on a farm in Kenya, both wild and domesticated animals were part of her daily life. As an adult, she married a park warden...and once she learned to care for orphaned elephants, the course of her life was truly set.

"Mother to Elephants" takes young readers through some of Daphne's life in Kenya and some of the lessons she learned. This picture book is easily digestible for young kids, and I love the further info at the end. I do wish there'd been a line or two about Kenya gaining independence, though space is limited, so I understand why the author chose to focus elsewhere. The illustrations are simple and sweet, and the playfulness of young elephants really comes through.

Sheldrick wrote several books herself, and her memoir "Love, Life, and Elephants" has been on my radar for a while. I'd suggest pairing "Love, Life, and Elephants" as a gift for a book-happy parent with "Mother to Elephants" as a gift for their child. Everybody learns something!

Thanks to the author and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.