Life Elephant

Navsari, India. Penniless and trapped in a loveless marriage, Nirmala spends her days anxiously caring for her sick young son, Varun. Looming over Nirmala’s impoverished home is an imposing mansion built by her grandfather, and from its balcony her cruel aunt scorns them, refusing to help in any way. But when a mysterious letter addressed to her long-dead father arrives from Zimbabwe, it opens a door to a past Nirmala never knew existed and a future she never imagined possible.

An elephant seal glides through the sea. Gulp! It catches a small fish. Listen to learn all about these blubbery mammals.

Sherry Chin Heijkoop's different kind of memoir, Elephant, is an inspirational and entertaining read. Elephant unfolds her life growing up in extreme poverty in a dirt shack in Malaysia after her dad womanized his way out of her family when she was two. Raised by a single mom with eight siblings - a family that consistently degraded Sherry for not having the physical traits of a "Chinese beauty" and in turn labeling her with the nickname "Elephant".

The wheat is ripe, but the harvester is broken and a plague of locusts is on the way. It looks as if Jim and his mother may lose the farm. But when Jim shows kindness to a stranger, their fortunes are set to change in the most surprising way imaginable!

Beginning with his interactions with Dr Salim Ali, the legendary ornithologist - who was also his grand-uncle - wildlife biologist Rauf Ali takes the listener on a journey through India’s natural history and the beginning of ecological studies in India. Rauf was one of the first Indians to complete a PhD in wildlife biology - he researched the social behaviour of bonnet macaques in the forests of Mundanthurai region in Tamil Nadu. In the late 1980s, he was instrumental in setting up one of India’s first master's programmes in ecology.

Walking with Elephants, a lighthearted slice-of-life story, brings to the table the serious work/family issues facing women today. It explores the modern dichotomy of a workplace that is filled with homemakers who still must cook, clean, carpool on nights and weekends, shop for prom dresses, and create the holidays -- such as Suze. But it also is filled with women who have the same drive as men, have no family responsibilities, and will do what ever it takes to get ahead.

We Bought a Zoo meets Jurassic Park in a gripping story featuring the evergreen appeal of human-animal friendships and set in an elephant sanctuary, about a 13-year-old girl, a cast of elephants, and a surprising new arrival - a woolly mammoth. Sam was born and raised in an elephant sanctuary. When a beloved elephant dies giving birth, Sam develops a connection with baby Woolly - who isn't actually an elephant but was cloned from woolly mammoth DNA.

The story begins from nine-year-old Nate's point of view, etching the details of an unbalanced mind struggling to make sense of rampant thought patterns and heightened paranoia. Enter Ashley, Nate's mother and a hardworking advertising executive concerned that she's not giving her family enough of her time - especially now that she senses something might be wrong with her son. As the story moves deftly back and forth between the two perspectives, the narrative converges to reveal one family's journey of discovery as they strive to find balance in their lives.

When Grief first arrives, it is an elephant—so big that there is hardly room for anything else. But over time, Grief becomes smaller and smaller—first a deer, a fox, then a mouse, and finally a flickering firefly in the darkness leading us down a path of loving remembrance.