Elevandi kõuehüüd

Wild Things #6

by Elizabeth Laird, Hana Loik (Translator)

«Elevandid,» lausus metsavaht, «on kõige ohtlikumad loomad Aafrikas.»
Tom pole kunagi elevanti looduses näinud. Ta on alati armastanud neid hiigelsuuri ja majesteetlikke loomi -- ja nüüd viib Titus Musau tema ja Josephi Mount Kenyasse neid lähedalt vaatama. Hoolimata hoiatustest ei suuda Tom ära oodata, millal sinna jõuab.
Aga miski poleks saanud teda esmakohtumiseks elevandiga ette valmistada. Noor haavatud isasloom, kes kisendab valust ja raevust ning tormab otse poissi ründama!

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Laird was born in New Zealand in 1943, the fourth of five children. Her father was a ship's surgeon; both he and Laird's mother were Scottish. In 1945, Laird and her family returned to Britain and she grew up in South London, where she was educated at Croydon High School.
When she was eighteen, Laird started teaching at a school in Malaysia. She decided to continue her adventurous life, even though she was bitten by a poisonous snake and went down with typhoid.

After attending the university in Bristol, Laird began teaching English in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. She and a friend would hire mules and go into remote areas in the holidays.

After a while at Edinburgh University, Laird worked in India for a summer. During travel, she met her future husband, David McDowall, who she said was very kind to her when she was airsick on a plane. The couple were married in 1975 and have two sons, Angus and William.

Laird has also visited Iraq and Lebanon. She claims to dislike snakes, porridge and being cold but enjoys very dark chocolate, Mozart, reading and playing the violin in the Iraq Symphony Orchestra.

She currently lives in Richmond, London with her husband.

Reviews

[John Naylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the first of this series I have read. I am a little confused as to where in the chronography it fits as it is listed here as book 6, on the spine as book 3 and on a website as book 2. It is possible to read as a stand alone as the exposition does give details.

I didn't dislike the book. It just had a lot of mixed messages which counted against it. None of the characters stood out particularly either. The plot felt like it was setting up bigger things than the story eventually delivered too.

The overall impression I got was that this is a breezy story. It had potential to discuss a lot of issues but breezed past them without daring to go too deep into them. It is hard to recommend or condemn. I finished it just wanting it to be more than it is.

[Diane V-R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both children enjoyed this book.

[Victoria Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! The kids and I loved it :-)