elephants Strange and Wonderful Laurence Pringle illustrated by Meryl Henderson BOYDS MILLS PRESS AN IMPRINT OF BOYDS MILLS and KANE New York
For Carola and Ellis Chase steadfast friends for more than four decades and reliable sources of love laughter and good food LP In memory of my brother Ralph who knew how to live life to the fullest He will be missed MH The author and illustrator would like to thank Cynthia Moss director of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants and the longest running elephant research project in the world for her careful review of the text and illustrations
Just for a moment close your eyes and imagine that you are an elephant Wow If you ever wanted to be taller now you are You tower over those humans down there Now feel your big ears They cover your shoulders You can move them a lot and even flap them in the air to cool yourself on a hot day Best of all is your amazing nose It is a muscular trunk long enough to reach your toes Use it to squirt water lift logs or grab fruit from trees high overhead You can even use the tip of your nose trunk to turn the page and learn more about extraordinary elephants
