Ian C. MacMillan

An African fable (written in English) about a little girl elephant that starts off agonizing about other animals' teasing of her appearance. In an encounter with a Magic Baobab Tree she is told she can earn respect of others by giving helpful advice to them. After finding out that advice is not at all easy to give, she learns how to do this. Over time she advises other baby animals: A girl giraffe worried about her lankiness, a girl hippo worried about how fat she is, a boy baboon worried about his beady close-knit eyes, and a boy hyena worried about his ungainly looks. She finds ways of showing the animals that the feature they are unhappy about actually carries advantage. In the end of all the animals assemble and appoint her as the wisest of animals. The animals that she advises or interacts with are named in various African languages: elephant (Zulu), owl (Xhosa) giraffe (Wolof), hippo (Swahili), baboon (Shona), hyena (Hausa). Prounications of the African names and where the languages are spoken are provided in a short glossary. 18 pages, each page a mini-story (with its own illustration) is suitable for a short five-minute reading session. Suitable for kids age three to eight.

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