The Memory of an Elephant: An Unforgettable Journey

by Sophie Strady, Jean-François Martin (Illustrator)

Memory and meaning are at the heart of this oversized, content-rich picture book celebrating the life of Marcel, a soulful elephant. From the towering buildings outside his window and his recollected world travels, to the friends, flora, and fauna that flourish around him, Marcel finds significance in his surroundings and, most importantly, in life's abundant details. Marcel is writing an encyclopedia, after all, and his entries are featured in full-page spreads packed with facts, elegantly situated alongside the story of his day and his life. Part story and part miscellany, this unforgettable book with dream-like illustrations will transfix both parents and children.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Fiction, Juvenile, International

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 5, 2014

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an odd but fascinating book! After a long and varied life, Marcel the elephant is writing an encyclopedia. His friends come to celebrate his birthday and that is really all that happens as a plot. But - there is SO much to look at from the boxes containing facts about real elephants to the large page samples of the encyclopedic entries on topics such as musical instruments and ships. There is a definite surreal feel to this book but it IS French after all ;-) I particularly liked the drawings of notable furniture throughout the book and the explanation on the back inside cover pages. I'm not really sure who this book is for - older kids, adults?? There is so much to look at and absorb on each page and much that I wanted to go back and locate - like all the furniture drawings. Eager to try this on my almost-11- year old grandsons.

[Christie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unusual book! You could not fit this into a genre if you tried. Marcel, a very old elephant wakes on her birthday to memories, music and friends. On each page of the GIANT book, a slim story of Marcel is accompanied with boxed factual mostly fascinating information about... well, everything. From music to animals to geography. I simply loved this book.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcel is an old elephant who is writing an encyclopedia of everything he knows in this quirky little picture book. The book tells the story of a day in the life of Marcel as he celebrates with his friends and remembers all that he knows.

This would be an absolute delight of a book for any child who loves elephants.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a neat little book. The children I nanny are 5 & 6. Unfortunately, I had a hard time keeping the children's attention with this one. I think it would be better for children a bit older. The illustrations were just ok. I really enjoyed reading all the little blurbs with facts about elephants. We learned things like, "each day an adult elephant needs to drink at least 30 gallons of water and eat between 220 & 440 pounds of food." "An elephants trunk is made up of at least 150,000 muscles, the trunk itself weighs around 290 pounds." "An adult elephant weighs more than 5 tons, which is the weight of about 62 men combined!" "If an elephant is left-handed then the left tusk is more worn than the right tusk." It also had interesting facts about different kinds of ships, clothing, buildings, plants, and birds. Since we live in the midwest, we aren't very knowledgeable about things involving the ocean. We learned that "knots are a unit of speed used for aerial navigation = 1 nautical mile per hour."

[Jimmy Bedoya-Ramírez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinopsis:

Marcel es un elefante viejo, culto y entrañable, que un día decide sentarse a recordar su vida. Con ayuda de sus libros, objetos, mapas y recuerdos, emprende un viaje a través de su memoria. Cada doble página es una ventana a un aspecto de su pasado: desde sus viajes por el mundo hasta sus pasatiempos, sus amistades, sus amores y sus objetos más preciados.

Mis impresiones:

“La memoria del elefante” es una celebración de la memoria como espacio afectivo, cultural y personal. El libro es mucho más que una biografía ficticia de un elefante: es una reflexión poética sobre el paso del tiempo, el conocimiento, la melancolía y el gozo de vivir.

La estructura enciclopédica del libro es su mayor acierto. Cada página es una explosión de información visual y escrita: desde listas de palabras y objetos hasta mapas de ciudades, planos de casas, y notas sobre cine, comida, arte o literatura. Es imposible leerlo todo de una vez; está hecho para explorar y redescubrir.

El arte y los temas:

Las ilustraciones de Jean-François Martin son elegantes, irónicas y delicadamente nostálgicas. Con un estilo limpio y retro, capturan la personalidad de Marcel y convierten cada objeto o recuerdo en una pieza del rompecabezas de su vida.

Los temas del libro —la memoria, la identidad, el envejecimiento, la cultura, el viaje— se abordan con ternura y profundidad. Marcel es un personaje con el que se conecta fácilmente: sabio, sensible, un poco solitario, pero lleno de experiencias que lo convierten en un gran contador de historias.

¿Y los peros?

Ninguno real. Puede que no sea un libro para leer de corrido ni para niños muy pequeños, pero es perfecto para quienes disfrutan de libros ilustrados ricos en detalles y sentidos.

En conclusión:

“La memoria del elefante” es un álbum ilustrado que honra la belleza de recordar, de vivir con intensidad y de atesorar lo pequeño.
Un libro para leer, mirar, hojear y volver a abrir muchas veces. Un viaje íntimo, melancólico y luminoso a través de la memoria. Altamente recomendable.

[RosaDG · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the excuse of telling us the story of this elephant named Marcel, the author shows us a wide repertoire of interesting topics to know, from facts about elephants and their ways of life to apparently unrelated topics such as fashion, architecture, computers , musical instruments, types of boats, birds and plants, animals, recipes or furniture and even some references from bibliography or web pages about all of it. It is not surprising that this story is called The Memory of the Elephant ... since it has always been said that this animal, and to assimilate all this information Marcel must have an excellent memory.

Marcel izeneko elefante honen istorioa kontatzeko aitzakiarekin, egileak jakiteko gai interesgarrien errepertorio zabala erakusten digu, elefanteei eta haien bizimoduei buruzko gertaeretatik hasi eta itxuraz zerikusirik ez duten gaietara, hala nola moda, arkitektura, ordenagailuak, musika tresnak , itsasontzi motak, hegaztiak eta landareak, animaliak, errezetak edo altzariak eta baita guztiari buruzko bibliografia edo web orrietako erreferentzia batzuk ere. Ez da harritzekoa istorio honi Elefantearen oroimena deitzea ... izan ere, beti esan izan da animalia hori eta informazio hori guztia bereganatzeko Marcelek memoria bikaina izan behar duela.

Con la excusa de contarnos la historia de este elefante llamado Marcel, la autora nos muestra un amplísimo repertorio de temas interesantes por conocer, desde datos sobre los elefantes y sus modos de vida hasta temas aparentemente no relacionados como la moda, la arquitectura, la informática, los instrumentos musicales, los tipos de barcos, aves y plantas, animales, recetas o mobiliario e incluso algunas referencias de bibliografía o paginas web sobre todo ello. No es de extrañar que este cuento se llame La memoria del elefante... puesto que siempre se ha dicho que este animal, y para asimilar toda esta información Marcel debe tener una memoria excelente.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book #: 63
Title: The Memory of an Elephant
Author: Sophie Strady
Series: no
Format: 40 pages, Hardcover, local library
Pub Date: First published August 5, 2014
Started: Dec. 3, 2025 Finished: Dec. 3, 2025
Awards: none
Categories: GR21 A book connected in some way to any collective noun for animals;
Goodreads Rating: 3.69; 144 ratings; 39 reviews
My Rating: ***** five out of five stars

Marcel is an anthropomorphic elephant who is writing an encyclopedia about everything that he remembers. In addition to trivia about elephants, the book contains trivia on additional topics he encountered in his adventures around the world; food, clothes, buildings, animals, birds, etc. It's also a Where's Waldo type of book, children have to find the animals and foods and other items scattered thru the pictures in the book.

Admittedly, I'm not the target audience for this book. I read it only to fulfill a category in a book challenge. It didn't seem fair to rank it less than five stars for that. "Memory" is a collective noun for elephants. And it's not even the shortest book I'm listing. There's another children's book for another category that's even shorter.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a hard time classifying this book, and finally decided that it was both a picture book AND nonfiction. There is an ongoing story of Marcel, an elderly elephant who has had an exciting life and traveled extensively, who is writing an encyclopedic account of things and places he has interacted with through his life. There are several pages that are from "his" book that are nonfiction, so there is definitely both in this book. Rather fascinating.

[Mackenzie Virginia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Kris Dersch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read more like a short story than a picture book...and not one I wasn't interested in reading. Not for me.

[Nithasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very unlike a usual children's book. Didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. One time read.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I need this book for my very own. This humongous book is more than just a story about Marcel, this book is chucked full of wonderful information. Each page has wonderful facts pertaining to the story whether that is elephants, food, instruments, furniture, exotic animals, plants, sea life, or clothing. Sometimes there are pages that are totally dedicated to these educational truths offset with ideal illustrations like the page that is devoted to buildings and technology, this children’s book is a mini textbook of knowledge. Every page in this 37-page book is filled with information as you read along with the story of Marcel. Marcel, an old elephant, who has taken upon himself the task of writing down everything he has done in his life. Marcel begin his career playing in a band, traveling then on the sea when he grows tired of being on the stage, he then lands in Paris finding a job there. The story continues as Marcel talks about his journey and there is celebration in the end as each year we celebrate our special day.

It’s such a terrific book but I feel it is aimed for older reader or as a great read-a-loud for younger children as the words are difficult, words such as delectably, monumental, and tumultuous. I also think the amount of words and the facts that are presented are geared for older children or for children who can understand the text. Some younger readers might like all the additional facts while another child might find all these facts too overwhelming. What did I love besides all the educational truths? I loved the illustrations surrounding the story of Marcel. Marcel looks old and wise and this storybook makes his tale larger than life. I enjoyed the illustrations that accompanied the facts on the pages, they looked realistic and proportionate. I really enjoyed the different fonts and the font sizes, this made reading the text fun and entertaining. What I didn’t like, I will have to take this book back to the library and order a copy for myself. Now….. did you know that elephants don’t like bees? Did you know that an elephant’s trunk weighs more than 290 lbs? Have you ever heard of a giraffe piano, they were very popular in the 19th century? And the firecrest bird weighs as much as a teaspoon of sugar! I have to stop….I could go on forever. This book is golden.

[Erik This Kid Reviews Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very unique. I had a hard time thinking of the theme and genre – it’s a pretty odd book (but I like odd ;) ). Even the size of the book is odd – it’s a large 10×14 – but Marcel is a very large elephant so I guess that makes sense. There is a fictional story in the book – the story of Marcel and his memories, but there is also a ton of facts about everything you can think of (Marcel is writing an encyclopedia). The illustrations are incredible. I love the detail in them (check out Marcel’s tattoo ;) ) and the old-fashioned feel. The story of Marcel is nice. He thinks about his life and the things in it and what he’s experienced. We get to meet some of his friends. It’s a nice story by itself but when you put it together with the awesome illustrations and all the fact information packed into the book, I think the book is just super cool. The publisher rates the book for kids 5+. Kids that young probably wouldn’t be able to read the book independently, but this book would make an awesome read aloud. It is the kind of picture book I would have loved when I was little. I always loved books with lots of fact boxes and tons of stuff I could look at. This isn’t a “normal” picture book, but if you are looking for something a little unique – I recommend this one!
*NOTE* I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

[Stefanie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book started out by being terribly boring: you get one page of an elephant waking up in his bed followed by a page of barely related facts, and then it moves into the elephant sitting down at his typewriter to write his memoirs side by side with a page full of heigh facts about buildings. It is weird and confusing as it seems like Marcel the elephant is only there to help the author throw down some random facts about buildings, ships, birds, and so on.

Then there is a page about instruments that proclaims that snake charmers use an instrument called a tubri that "is capable of hypnotizing dangerous snakes" and I realized that I had no idea how many of the facts in this book are actually true if it is going to tell some myth about snakes on page 16 of 38. (It later claims that owls have poor eyesight, which isn't true either. UGH.)

I finished it, as it was so short, but I can't think of anyone I could possibly recommend this for. I assumed it was for children, but I don't trust the facts enough to recommend it for a child, and I imagine they would be as bored as I was by the lack of story and the cluttering of facts in poorly selected script fonts.

[Emmaline MacBeath · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcel is an elephant. This story follows his day and life, what he does and what he remembers. On each page alongside Marcel's story are facts about elephants. Then there are pauses from the story in which a full page of facts about things such as clothing, furniture, and buildings are presented.

The illustrations have a vintage 1920s feel. The book is larger than expected at about 10 x 14.

I could not enjoy the story about Marcel. First of all it meandered quite a bit and I quickly lost track of where it was going. But I was also distracted by the enormous amount of facts throughout the book. And not all of the facts were about elephants. It was a smattering of all sorts of facts. This might be an interesting book for a classroom where students can pull it out and read it many times over. But it is way too long and complicated for a one time read. Advertized for ages 5-8. I think due to its complex nature, it would be more appropriate for ages 8-12.

[Eva Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now THIS is a GREAT BOOK! Because here's why. Elephants are BIG and this book is HUGE! So already you can see where they're going with this. But the other thing is that it's a story AND a fact book. The story about Marcel the elephant is at the bottom of the page and the facts are ON the page. And they're BIG pages.
Now the weird thing is that the facts aren't all about elephants. I mean, it IS and it ISN'T. What it's about is all these things that Marcel does and learns while he's on his trip. It's stuff about furniture and trees and food and buildings and even the internet.
I think this is a good idea that more guys should try, because it means you look at this twice as much.
The fact part is a lot of words but you can look at it later. The main part is the story. And it's a good story about a smart old elephant who got to go to Paris, which isn't bad for an animal.
So this one was a GREAT one!!!! Seven stars!!

[Maggi Rohde · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is impossible to classify. I put it in nonfiction, but it still has a story in it. In fact, I loved the juxtaposition between the story about Marcel and facts about everything throughout the book. "If an elephant is left-handed, like Paul McCartney, then the left tusk is more worn than the right tusk."
But also... "The boa, a sort of scarf made of feathers, is worn around the neck and looks a bit like the snake that inspired its name." Facts about buildings, musical instruments, ocean ships, plants and birds, a recipe for crepes and foods of all kinds. I especially loved the page with the breakfast spread. I still don't quite get the point of the book, but really, it's too cool for me to care.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not exactly sure that I understand this book, but it was visually appealing. A talented elephant named Marcel looks back on his past with fondness, remembering his time in a band and his travels. After he reminisces, there are pages containing relevant facts such as how many continents there are or the types of vessels that sail the ocean or thumbnail sketches of plants and birds. I'm not sure if the author is trying to show the layers of memory and how random facts or bits of information assume importance through our lived experiences or something else, but the book itself is interesting. I wonder what a young audience will make of this one.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I regretted buying this book: it starts out like reading an encyclopedia entry on clothing. And it's too tall for my book shelves.
But it gets better very quickly. I learned a lot. New scrabble words. Animal facts. Boat facts. Geography facts. Awesome awesome artwork. And a peek at a whole bunch of difficult words made accessible for children. By the way, that's just every other page. It's all tied together with a fun story of Marcel and his travels. It's not a short book but I wish there were many more pages. And some sequels. MORE!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a charming story of the reminiscences of a globe-trotting elephant. It's blended with assorted educational bits about elephants and things related to the elephant's adventures that in a way that will appeal to kids who are always asking "What's that?" and adults who are young at heart. Approved for ages 5-105.

[Siskiyou-Suzy · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all, the story is boring. Really, really boring. It's annotated with elephant facts, but more than elephant facts -- facts about all sorts of stuff that really have very little to do with the story at all. Also, if this is a book for children (which I'm pretty sure it is), then it would have helped to write the informational stuff as if it was actually for children.

[Mell Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marcel is an elephant who is surprised one morning to find treats at a table. The story unfolds with Marcel being surprised for his birthday. Children will delight in the story, and also in the interesting facts included about elephants. I will add this to my close reading list for a fiction/non-fiction companion about elephants.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art: 4/4
Writing: 3/4
Story/Message: 3/4

I'm giving this a four, partially because I'm a sucker for two things: collected knowledge, and large-format books! I love the vintagey art, and the random collection of obscure things readers learn about as they meander, elephant-pace, through this lovely book. I only wish the story was a bit more compelling.

[Bill]

A truly strange book. I have no idea how to categorize it. I have no idea what to rate it. I have no idea what child readers would take from it. Or of the child who might love it. An inexplicable jumble of things.

[Mrsculpepper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jam packed with fun facts and gorgeous illustrations. And a great story too! great for elephant fans, fact fans (Marcel the elephant is writing an encyclopedia), and anyone who needs a good story about friends.

[Matt Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instant classic! Beautiful illustrations with a whimsical story about the memory of a very old, left-handed, anchor tattooed, musical, accidentally revolutionary, gourmand of an elephant whose job is to write down everything he remembers.

[Vj · Rating 2 out of 5]

The publisher's description is correct until the last line stating that it "will transfix both parents and children." Very few children or adults are "transfixed" by encyclopedias. I found it interesting and even memorable because it is so unique, but I think very few children would read this.

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

An unusual book depicting the memory of an oversized elephant and historical moments along the way-- fascinating with lots of interesting facts about elephants and history but it can get rather confusing.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great artistically designed book that combines a fictional story about an elephant and lots of various nonfiction facts including facts about elephants.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite odd but fascinating and enjoyable hodgepodge of whimsy and abundant miscellaneous facts in this story about a fictional soulful elephant named Marcel.