Pennies for Elephants

This was a cool story about children's collective action a hundred years ago in Boston. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but think about how those elephants were probably treated in the circus, and the conditions they probably lived in, in a Boston zoo in the early 20th century. I imagine it was the Franklin Park Zoo, which got started in 1912, and was a typical "exhibition-based" urban zoo. Oh well. The book was really well done, and you can either make it a teaching moment about zoos and animals, or you can try to avoid doing the Debbie Downer and just let the kid(s) enjoy the fun illustrations (well-represented by the cover).

This was a cool story about children's collective action a hundred years ago in Boston. Unfortunately, I couldn't help but think about how those elephants were probably treated in the circus, and the conditions they probably lived in, in a Boston zoo in the early 20th century. I imagine it was the Franklin Park Zoo, which got started in 1912, and was a typical "exhibition-based" urban zoo. Oh well. The book was really well done, and you can either make it a teaching moment about zoos and animals, or you can try to avoid doing the Debbie Downer and just let the kid(s) enjoy the fun illustrations (well-represented by the cover).

A delightful story is accompanied by frequent newspaper clippings from 1914 that capture an interesting anecdote in history: "Mr and Mrs. William Orford, noted animal trainers, are retiring from show business. City can't afford to buy the elephants for the zoo, but the Orfords agree to give the children of Boston two months to collect $6,000." Kids save their pennies in myriad ways (documented periodically throughout the book in charts from the newspaper) that enable readers to keep a tally of the money earned. Just pennies? Is it possible to make that amount of money? With obvious math connections, this will be a hit with teachers who want to liven up a math lesson and link it to history.

This was an interesting story. I really enjoyed reading it to children. The story of a group of children who accomplished something incredible through hard work and teamwork. It's very nice, it's true, and it's entertaining.