Discover The Elephant Girl - a story of friendship & conservation

The Elephant Girl + My Fahlo bracelet

Humans and elephants have coexisted for thousands of years, often in harmony, with both species keeping to their natural habitats and territories. However, expansion of the human population has led to our encroaching more and more on the elephants’ territories. This shift has created an increasingly tense relationship between us, as both species fight for their space and survival. The current reality is that people are threatening elephants’ very existence. Poachers hunt elephants to profit from their tusks; some people hunt elephants for sport; and corporations and communities displace them by taking over their roaming grounds. While many people around the world have tremendous compassion for the majestic animals, their numbers continue to fall.

To help raise awareness for the dangers as well as wonders that elephants face, Young Arrow and Toppsta will be gifting copies of new book The Elephant Girl, along with a Fahlo bracelet, to one lucky classroom. 

Enter our giveaway on 3rd August on Twitter for your chance to win.

Fahlo work in partnership with Save the Elephants in Kenya and a portion of all proceeds go towards the organisation, which works to protect wild elephants. Their bracelet tracks a wild elephant via an exclusive tracking map, so the class will be able to follow their elephant’s journey over a year in the wild, allowing new creature and human connections to be formed.

Toppsta
2022-07-22
Discover The Elephant Girl - a story of friendship & conservation
My Fahlo Expedition Bracelet
My Fahlo Expedition Bracelet

The Elephant Girl by James Patterson, Ellen Banda-Aaku and Sophia Krevoy, explores the important theme of friendship and finding inner strength, bringing to life the wonderful bonds between girl and elephant, and the power of belonging.

We see this often in films and TV series, and the bonds between humans and animals have been explored many times. But unlike Lassie or Marley & Me, and their heart-warming tales of doggie companions and friends, The Elephant Girl centres around a young girl, Jama, and a baby elephant she befriends and calls Mbegu.

Mbegu and Jama’s bond is tested when Mbegu’s mother is frightened and stampedes. Jama and Mbegu are blamed for two deaths as a result – one elephant and one human. Now the new boy in town, whose father is head ranger at the conservancy, may be their only lifeline and the only hope for keeping them together.

Unlike our dog and cat companions, elephants don’t often feature in such stories, and The Elephant Girl portrays this life-changing friendship with the gentle elephants with great warmth and care.

Toppsta
2022-07-22
Discover The Elephant Girl - a story of friendship & conservation
Elephant illustration

We hope that you come away from Jama and Mbegu’s story with more knowledge about elephants and a better understanding as to how humans and elephants could coexist as friends rather than foes. Wouldn’t that be a better world?

This heart-pounding story is inspired by true events and is perfect for readers that enjoyed Julia and Shark (Kiran Millwood-Hargrave), The Good Bear (Sarah Lean), and The Stargold Chronicles (Sylvia Lindsteadt). 

You can read an extract of the book below.


Toppsta
2022-07-22
Discover The Elephant Girl - a story of friendship & conservation
Book pages The Elephant Girl

The Elephant Girl

Jama is a clever and sensitive young Maasai girl who likes elephants better than people.

She decides to escape the classroom gossip about the new boy, Leku, by going to the watering hole outside her village. There, she befriends a baby elephant that she names Mbegu.

When Mbegu's mother, frightened by poachers, stampedes, Jama and Mbegu are blamed for two deaths - one elephant and one human. Now Leku, whose mysterious and imposing father is the head ranger at the conservancy, may be their only lifeline.

A beautiful, heart-pounding story of a girl, an elephant, and their life-changing friendship.

View Book BUY NOW

read an extract of the elephant girl

PROLOGUE

My personal hiding spot was just fifteen steps from the watering hole. The water was light brown, and the edges were sloped and muddy from the paws and hooves of a thousand animals. Buffalo, monkeys, zebras, gazelles, lions. On one side, there was a fallen tree with dry, dead branches surrounded by green brush. On the other side were spiny bushes with round, dark fruit. Acacia trees surrounded the watering hole.

It was a quiet place—but dangerous. Which is why I kept it a secret. Whatever worry I felt was outweighed by my need to make a haven of my own, away from the village and all its rules. As a twelve-year-old girl, I was willing to take risks for my privacy. That is part of the magic of youth—being happiest in a place where no one else thinks you should be.

On that special day, I hadn’t seen any animals, just a flock of silly sandgrouse wading at the edge of the water. But later that afternoon, I Iooked up again and there they were. Elephants. My elephants! It was the herd I’d seen before.

I was always amazed that animals so huge could move with such grace and ease, as gentle as the wind. As the elephants approached, I ducked back deeper into the brush and watched. The female I called Shaba was in the lead.

I saw her lift her trunk like a flag, sniffing the air. Can she smell me? I wondered.

If she could, she didn’t seem to mind. Shaba led the herd to the edge of the water, and they began to drink.

“My heart was thumping so hard I was afraid they might hear it. No matter how many times I saw the elephants, I always felt a power that went straight through my chest.

Shaba turned away from the watering hole, and I could see what looked like a pink stub sticking out of her backside.

Is she hurt? Is she sick?

Her gray cheeks puffed in and out, and her big ears flapped. The other females crowded around her, but she backed away.

I could tell that she wanted room.

As they shuffled back and forth, the elephants kicked up swirls of reddish dust, and for a few seconds I couldn’t see what was happening.

After a minute or two, Shaba stopped and spread her back legs wide, like she was about to sit down on an invisible stool. She shook her massive head. Suddenly a shiny wet sac spilled out of her and dropped to the ground. Inside the sac, the shape was clear.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. A baby elephant!


Toppsta
2022-07-22
Discover The Elephant Girl - a story of friendship & conservation

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