Water for Elephants Resources: Related Children's Books
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Circus

Clements, Andrew. Circus Family Dog. Clarion Books, 2000. Grumps is content to do his one trick in the center ring at the circus, until a new dog shows up and steals the show--temporarily.

Ehlert, Lois. Circus. HarperCollins, 1992. Leaping lizards, marching snakes, a bear on the high wire, and others perform in a somewhat unusual circus.

Falconer, Ian. Olivia Saves the Circus. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2001. At school, Olivia tells about her summer vacation and how, when she went to the circus and all the performers were out sick, she saved the day, becoming Olivia the Tattooed Lady, Olivia the Lion Tamer, The Amazing Flying Olivia, and more.

Fleischman, Paul. Sidewalk Circus. Candlewick Press, 2004. A young girl watches as the activities across the street from her bus stop become a circus.

Seligson, Susan. The Amazing Amos and the Greatest Couch on Earth. Joy Street Books, 1989. Amos the dog zooms out of his house one morning on his traveling couch and discovers something quite unusual happening at the park - the circus has come to town!

Seuss, Dr. If I Ran the Circus. Random House, 1956. Young Morris McGurk lets his imagination run wild with his circus McGurkus.

Elephants

Arnold, Katya. Elephants Can Paint, Too!. Atheneum, 2005. Learn about elephants and how they can paint just like human children in this true story of how Katya Arnold teaches painting to kids in Brooklyn and Asian elephants in Thailand. (ALA Notable Children’s Book, non-fiction)

Blumberg, Rhoda. Jumbo. Maxwell Macmillan International, 1992. With his friend and trainer Matthew Scott, Jumbo, the giant African elephant, leaves his home at the London Zoo and becomes part of the P.T. Barnum circus. (non-fiction)

Fleischman, Sid. The White Elephant. Greenwillow Books, 2006. In old Siam, young elephant trainer Run-Run and his old charge, Walking Mountain, must deal with the curse of a sacred white elephant. (illustrated chapter book)

Helfer, Ralph. The World’s Greatest Elephant. Philomel, 2006. Born on the same day in the same German town, Bram and his elephant, Modoc, grew up side by side. Their circus act brought them wide fame, but their incredible bond would also lead to a series of adventures with danger at every turn. (non-fiction)

Petersham, Maud Fuller. The Circus Baby. Macmillan, 1950. The antics of Baby Elephant as his mother tries to teach him to eat with a spoon at the clown family's dining table. (picture book)

Schubert, Leda. Ballet of the Elephants. Roaring Book Press, 2006. The story of how 1942’s "Circus polka," a dance of 50 elephants and 50 ballerinas dreamed up by John Ringling North, choreographed by George Balanchine, and composed by Igor Stravinsky, was created. (non-fiction)

The Great Depression

Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy. Delacorte Press, 1999. Ten-year-old Bud, a motherless boy living in Flint, Michigan, during the Great Depression, escapes a bad foster home and sets out in search of the man he believes to be his father--the renowned bandleader, H.E. Calloway of Grand Rapids. (Newbery Medal)

Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression. Clarion Books, 2005. Drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters and other first-hand accounts, Russell Freedman takes a close look at the lives of young Americans during the Great Depression. (Golden Kite Award, non-fiction)

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. Scholastic Press, 1997. In a series of poems, fifteen-year-old Billie Jo relates the hardships of living on her family's wheat farm in Oklahoma during the dust bowl years of the Depression. (Newbery Medal)

Katz, William Loren. An Album of the Great Depression. Franklin Watts, 1978. Discusses the causes, events, and effects of the Great Depression and highlights the programs designed to alleviate it.

Peck, Richard. A Long Way from Chicago: A Novel in Stories. Dial Books for Young Readers, 1998. A boy recounts his annual summer trips to rural Illinois with his sister during the Great Depression to visit their larger-than-life grandmother. (Newbery Honor Book)

Rensberger, Susan. A Multicultural Portrait of the Great Depression. Benchmark Books, 1996. Describes the history of the Great Depression from the vantage point of minorities and women. (non-fiction)

Ross, Stewart. Causes and Consequences of the Great Depression. Raintree Steck-Vaughn, 1998. Examines the reasons for the Great Depression, the events that happened during that period, and some of its tragic consequences. (non-fiction)

Stein, R. Conrad. The Great Depression (Cornerstones of Freedom series). Children’s Press, 1993. Describes the 1929 stock market crash and the events and effects of the depression that followed, including the New Deal programs intended to restore the economy. (non-fiction)

Tripp, Valerie. Meet Kit, an American Girl. Pleasant Co. Publications, 2000. When her father's business closes because of the Great Depression forcing Kit to make changes in her life, the nine-year-old responds with resourcefulness. (first in a series of 6 chapter books about Kit)

Wormser, Richard. Growing Up in the Great Depression. Atheneum, 1994. Historical background, interviews, and photographs combine to provide an impression of childhood during the Great Depression. (non-fiction)

Aging

Anderson, Lena. Stina. Greenwillow Books, 1989. On a visit to her grandfather's house by the sea, Stina goes outside to see a storm but is frightened by it until Grandfather finds her and shows her the best way to watch a storm is together.

Cruise, Robin. Little Mama Forgets. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006. Although her Mexican-American grandmother now forgets many things, Luciana finds that she still remembers the things that are important to the two of them.

Dugan, Barbara. Loop the Loop. Greenwillow Books, 1992. Anne learns many things from her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Simpson, including yo-yo tricks. When Mrs. Simpson enters a nursing home, Anne proves to be a true friend.

Fox, Mem. Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge. Kane/Miller Book Publishers, 1985. A small boy tries to discover the meaning of "memory" so he can restore that of an elderly friend.

Graham, Bob. Rose Meets Mr. Wintergarten. Candlewick Press, 1992. A young girl's attempt to retrieve her ball from her grouchy old neighbor's yard changes the way they feel about each other.

Griffith, Helen V. Georgia Music. Greenwillow Books, 1986. A little girl and her grandfather share two different kinds of music, that of his mouth organ and that of the birds and insectsaround his cabin.

Johnson, Angela. When I am Old With You. Orchard Books, 1990. A child imagines being old with Grandaddy and joining him in such activities as playing cards all day, visiting the ocean, and eating bacon on the porch.

Resource Archive for past RARI selections