Elephant Baby, the Story of Little Tembo

by Ann McGovern

The life cycle of Little Tembo an African elephant, written in poetic science especially for beginning readers.

Genres: Animals, Picture Books, Childrens, Africa, Science

40 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 1982

About the author

Ann McGovern Scheiner (née Weinberger) was an American writer of more than 55 children's books, selling over 30 million copies. She may be best known for her adaptation of Stone Soup, as well as Too Much Noise, historical and travel non-fiction, and biographies of figures like Harriet Tubman and Deborah Sampson Gannett and Eugenie Clark.

Reviews

[Celia Buell (semi hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elephants are interesting animals to study because of their long life cycles and family orientation that make them similar to humans. This poetic narrative piece of nonfiction details the first years of life of a young elephant named Tembo (“elephant” in Swahili). Tembo grows up as part of a close-knit herd of primarily female elephants and is aided by her herd as she faces hyenas, alligators, and noisy tourists. Through this, you learn about an elephant’s lifespan, herd dynamics, maturity rate, diet, and predators.

I would use this to address first grade standards about life cycles and traits. While it would be hard for most first grade students to read on their own, I could see this used in a guided read-aloud format to get them to think about changes that happen in an elephant's life, especially physical changes.

I think this will be a fun one to have in the classroom because it can get students to truly think about family dynamics and childhood in the animal kingdom, and in terms of family units, elephants are closely related to experiences we can expect children to have.

Read my full review on my

[Prabhat sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elephant Baby: The Story of Little Tembo by Ann McGovern (Goodreads Author), Illustrator- Fred, Hindi language translation by Vidushak- Children’s Illustrated Colour Picture Book- The book narrates the life cycle of an elephant named Tembo. Elephants are interesting animals to study because of their long -life cycles and family orientation that make them similar to humans. This poetic narrative piece of nonfiction details the first years of life of a young elephant named Tembo. Tembo grows up as part of a close-knit herd of primarily female elephants and is aided by her herd as she faces hyenas, alligators, and noisy tourists. Through this, you learn about an elephant’s lifespan, herd dynamics, maturity rate, diet, and predators. Coloured illustrations help the reader in relating to the story. I have read the Hindi language translation of this book.

[Jamie Krebs Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book with tons of information on elephants and how they live. I really like the simple words so it can be used for young readers to read on their own. We learned many new facts about elephants with this simple well written book 🐘

[Celia Buell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elephants are interesting animals to study because of their long life cycles and family orientation that make them similar to humans. This poetic narrative piece of nonfiction details the first years of life of a young elephant named Tembo (“elephant” in Swahili). Tembo grows up as part of a close-knit herd of primarily female elephants and is aided by her herd as she faces hyenas, alligators, and noisy tourists. Through this, you learn about an elephant’s lifespan, herd dynamics, maturity rate, diet, and predators. While there are many words per page, sometimes written in smaller writing, this is still comprehensible for young readers because the words and concepts are well-defined. On top of this, the realistic illustrations (sketches and watercolor?), poetic form, and simple sentences makes this book easy to understand despite being a little on the long side.

I would use this to address first grade standards about life cycles and traits. While it would be hard for most first grade students to read on their own, I could see this used in a guided read-aloud format to get them to think about changes that happen in an elephant's life, especially physical changes. It could also be an exercise in writing about reading, as I could guide the class in making a mind map or chart of the elephant's life and what that looks like, as well as having students research and illustrate changes they notice.

I think this will be a fun one to have in the classroom because it can get students to truly think about family dynamics and childhood in the animal kingdom, and in terms of family units, elephants are closely related to experiences we can expect children to have.

[Shakita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It would be great for someone who loved elephants and wanted to know more about them. It had great information that I had never known. One could use this book to talk about how different animals live in different habitats; one could use this book to see how animal parents protect their young and how they are a family just like humans.

[Rebecca Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to teach and talk to students about poetry. I would tell them that a poem does not have to be short and sweet. A poem can be a whole story! They can try to create their own poem stories. This is also a good book to have in your library if you have students who are interested in elephants.

[Sharia A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book talks about the nature of elephants in Africa. This book discusses how people are effecting the climate and world for animals. This book is also good for students recognizing other animals like hyenas and other animals on the savannah.

[Irina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about a little elephant named Tembo. I love this book, because it is so informational while still being engaging. This is the perfect book when teaching students about elephants.