Imprint
- Hodder Children's Books
For National Curriculum Key Stage 2, Fiction, Animal stories (Children's / Teenage)
A boy - and the might and tenderness of a wild elephant. Another dramatic story by the award-winning Geoffrey Malone.
Ben is in the bush with his game-warden father. They see a family of elephants in distress, led by Kubwa and her daughter, Temba. Having survived a crocodile attack, Temba's calf has fallen into swamp mud and is drowning. The elephants struggle to rescue him. Ben gathers his courage for a crawl over treacherous mud to attach straps while his father winches the elephant out. Temba learns the smell of these humans who helped, and the elephants move on.
But ivory poachers attack, kill Kubwa, cut off her tusks and depart. Temba is now leader: she gathers the others to perform funeral rites.
Ben and his father stumble into the poachers' camp and are taken prisoner. Only Ben's link with Temba can save them now ...
Praise for Elephant Ben
-
An exciting and immensely enjoyable adventure story ... A great read for any young wildlife enthusiast. - The Northern Echo
-
compelling reading - The School Librarian
-
Review from a child judge of the Stockton Award: '... definitely the most brilliant book I ever read. It's a definite 10/10!' Frederick Nattrass, aged 9.
-
KIMBA: 'Malone continues to be one of the great specialists of the animal novel.' - West of France review paper
-
The style is attractive and immediate, and might get boys (as well as girls) from 8 upwards, reading for pleasure - The School Librarian
Geoffrey Malone
Geoffrey Malone spent his early life in Africa and did not receive any formal schooling until the age of eleven. He later spent sixteen years as a soldier, then left the UK for Toronto, where he joined a Canadian advertising agency.
An encounter with a colony of beavers in the Ontario wilderness during his stay in Canada, led to his first book - Brunner. He returned to Britain determined to write for children. He has now had eight books published, most of which are about wild animals. They are all closely observed and describe the struggle for survival among differing species, in today's man-dominated world.
He won the (prestigious) French Children's Book of the Year, TamTam Prize, for Torn Ear, the story of a fox. This was followed soon afterwards by the award of the, Prix d' Enfants et Grand-Parents Europeen. In England, he was shortlisted for the 2001 Stockton Children's Book of the Year, with Elephant Ben, a story about ivory poaching.
His subjects have included badger baiting in England; the slaughter of Indian tigers, and life inside a wolf pack, in Wyoming, USA. His latest book, Dead Boys' Club, sees a return to Africa and a vivid description of the horrors of modern day slavery, as a Child Soldier.
Find a book you’ll love, get our Word Up newsletter
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
.png?auto=compress&w=150&h=60&fit=crop&fm=jpg)
Hachette Australia acknowledges and pays our respects to the past, present and future Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia and recognises the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Our head office is located on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation.
