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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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.

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.