Book-A-Day Almanac

Elephant Appreciation Day, which took place yesterday, has been set aside to celebrate the “earth’s largest, most interesting, and most noble endangered land animal.” Certainly elephants have always had enormous appeal to children. In fact, circus founder P. T. Barnum once said, “When entertaining the public, it is best to have an elephant.”

In 2006 Ralph Helfer, wild-animal trainer, and Ted Lewin, known for his realistic artwork for children, teamed up to tell a fascinating story about an elephant. Their book, The World’s Greatest Elephant, features an elephant named Modoc.  Almanac readers have already encountered another Modoc in Leda Schubert’s Ballet of the Elephants. In this forty-eight-page picture book with an extensive text Helfer relates a three-hankerchief story about an incredible animal. When she is born in Zezeldorf, Germany, on the same day and almost same hour as the elephant trainer’s son, Bram, the man hopes that the two will always be together. In fact, they become best friends. By the age of five, Modoc weighed two thousand pounds; at ten, she weighed four thousand, making her the world’s biggest elephant. She and Bram perform in the circus together, he a diminutive figure who stands on her head.

Tragedy strikes when a new owner named Jay North buys the circus and decides to ship it to New York—but refuses to take Modoc’s trainer. Bram decides to stow away on the boat with his beloved friend. When the boat gets swamped by water, the boy and elephant get separated but find each other in the waves. Rescued by a maharajah, the two friends recover in India. Unfortunately, Jay North has not forgotten about his property, and he gathers up both Modoc and Bram, who come to New York.

At this point in the story, readers long for a quiet life for the elephant—because of the trials Modoc has already undergone. But her problems continue. A circus fire scars the giant performer, and North sells her off in the middle of the night. So Bram begins to search for his friend.

Narrated by Ralph Helfer, who owned Modoc for the last twenty years of her life, the book celebrates the tenacity of this incredible animal and attests to the wonderful relationship that can exist between a human being and an elephant. And Helfer witnessed this relationship firsthand—he was there when Modoc and Bram were finally reunited. Through Ted Lewin’s dramatic and moving paintings readers also feel as if they witness this remarkable friendship. Modoc comes to life on the page. She dances and performs and trumpets her way through the book.

I can think of no better way to celebrate Elephant Appreciation Day than to read this book and discuss with children Modoc’s incredible life story.

Here’s a page from The World’s Greatest Elephant: