Bashi, Elephant Baby (Viking Kestrel Picture Books) [Hardcover]

Theresa Radcliffe (Author), John Butler (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1998 | Age Level: 4 and up | Series: Viking Kestrel Picture Books

Bashi is a new-born African elephant calf. This story tells of him facing the danger of hunting lions while drinking at a water hole, and learning how to survive in a tough environment.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?Inspired by a National Geographic film production, Radcliffe's heart-tugging story of a newborn elephant calf's first day of life focuses on the caring protection of his mother and the rest of his herd "family." The golden-toned, realistic illustrations evoke both the spacious wildness of the African veldt and the tenderness and concern of the elephants, particularly when the infant becomes mired in mud on the margin of a waterhole, and three lionesses on the hunt are ready to take advantage of his weakness and his predicament. This attractive volume is a visual feast and a glimpse of actual elephant parenting, and brings comforting reassurance that even in the heart of the wilderness, there can be a happy ending.?Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ages 4^-8. A small African drama is played out here as if seen through the dusty lens of a nature photographer's camera. It is the powerful illustrations that fuel this story of a newborn elephant and her protective family as they are sized up by a pride of hungry lionesses. Bashi was born to Neo overnight, but now she must move with the herd to the watering hole. It is there that the baby elephant gets stuck near the muddy bank, making herself easy prey. Mother Neo must foil the snarling lionesses while trying to free the newborn from the muddy trap. Some may have played this as a frantic action story, but instead, each scene looks as though it were shot in slow motion. There is time to notice every detail, whether it's the wiry hairs on the warthog's snout or the shape of the baobab tree. Bathed in the golden color of the equatorial sun, this is a beautifully executed book that will be quietly appreciated. Denia Hester

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (January 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670870544
• ISBN-13: 978-0670870547
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,062,142 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous illustrations, gripping story, August 13, 2001

By 

Ann Shillinglaw - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bashi, Elephant Baby (Viking Kestrel Picture Books) (Hardcover)

This book provides a magnificent escape, with its astonishing illustrations that somehow really do capture the flat, endless essence of the desert savannah, the world the elephants and their potential predators inhabit. There are ordinary books with ordinary illustrations, and then there are books like this, with perfectly executed lines and colors. When you close the book, it is almost as if you've been to Africa, or seen a film of it. I suppose it is somehow like storyboards of a film. Anyhow, it is a beautiful, distinctive book that adults will like as much or more than child readers will. In addition, its story includes a deep motherlove between adult and child elephant that is moving in a calm, realistic way. A really excellent book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bashi, July 25, 2002

By 

Cheryl Smith "former librarian" (Asheboro, NC United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bashi, Elephant Baby (Mass Market Paperback)

Having spent a year in Africa, I can assure you that the illustrations so beautifully painted by John Butler, recreate the African plain. Most of the colors are yellows and oranges, with the brown mud. Bashi is born into an elephant family whose young females all protect and mother him, as is the norm. It is a good thing they do so, because Bashi's natural enemies are out there awaiting an opportunity. Unfortunately, they almost find one when little one day old Bashi is caught in the mud by the water hole. Luckily, his mother digs out around and under his feet and finally gets him free. The reader gets the idea of just how hard it is for the wonderful little creature to survive his first day of life on the African plain. Children loved it at a recent storytime I did.