The Elephant's Garden

by Jane E. Ray

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Genres: Picture Books, Fiction, India, Childrens, Animals, Folk Tales, Fantasy

Paperback

First published March 7, 2017

About the author

Born in London, Jane studied art and design at Middlesex University. Her main study was ceramics and she didn't start to illustrate until she left college. Her first published work was a series of greetings cards for Roger la Borde, followed by some book jackets, and eventually black and white illustrations for a poetry anthology with Orchard Books.

Reviews

[littlemiao · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love the vibrant cut-paper illustrations in this book. The story was a delight as well. Now my Miaolings are going to try to attract flying elephants to our garden. I hope they won't crowd out the birds.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated retelling of a classic tale from India. A young girl notices that the best fruit from her garden is disappearing. When she spies one evening to figure out who is taking the fruit she discovers that an elephant drops down from the moon to eat. When confronted, the elephant shows the girl that his own garden is full of fruit-shaped jewels. When the girl returns to tell her family they all want to see this garden. She agrees to take them the next time the elephant comes. The family shares the secret and the group of people wanting to see the elephant's garden grows by many.

While trying to explain how big the jewels are the young girl lets go of the elephant's tail while traveling to his garden. Not only does everyone lose their chance to see the jewel garden, the elephant never returns.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richly colored illustrations give us a sense of the beautiful gardens in this story, which is a traditional Indian story.

When a girl finds an elephant stealing her fruit, she follows him back to his home, which is a garden of precious jewels.

She tells her parents to tell no one, but no one can keep the secret. The whole village hangs on to the elephant that night, but the chain breaks when someone asks a question that could only be answered by holding hands a certain width apart.

[Allison Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations! Students will be engaged with the illustrations alone. Students will love this story of the elephant and Jasmine's family. Predictions can be made throughout the story. The students will be able to have many thoughts as the story is read. This would be a great book to read when discussing predictions as well as folktales.

[Neeli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent re-telling of an old Indian tale. The illustrations rate as highly commendable. Would love to see more work by this illustrator. Well done!

[Abi Reynolds · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the opportunity to meet the author of the book and hear how she makes the collages for the illustrations, as well as seeing some of the original designs created.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork is so colorful and vibrant and gorgeous.

This is a traditional Indian folktale and the kids and I truly enjoyed it.

[charlene.librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully rendered in vibrant colors and shapes.