Elephant - Hardcover

Ages 6-9, younger for reading aloud. Hannah discovers the secret of her great-grandmother's ivory necklace during a dream in which she sees a mother elephant shot for her ivory tusks. She awakens determined to set things right, and on a visit to a wild game preserve, she sees her chance. When the car she's in stalls between a mother elephant and her calf, Hannah tosses the necklace to the calf, a lifesaving distraction: "I gave it back. It was my great-grandmother's necklace, but it was made from her great-grandmother's tusks." The African setting and characters are beautifully and solidly evoked in Humphries' watercolors, and the realistic depiction of the wildlife adds much to the appeal of the story. Janice Del Negro