Children's books: History: "Mother to Elephants", "Piece by Piece", and "Ruth First Never Backed Down"

Mother to Elephants by R.G. de Rouen, illustrated by Kateryna Rohotova
Piece by Piece by Lupe Ruiz-Flores, illustrated by Anna López Real (Millbrook Press)
Ruth First Never Backed Down by Danielle Joseph, illustrated by Gabhor Utomo (Kar-Ben Publishing)

Into the world of children's books—and around the world with some history!

Dame Daphne Sheldrick's true love was animals—raised on a farm in Kenya, both wild and domesticated animals were part of her daily life. As an adult, she married a park warden...and once she learned to care for orphaned elephants, the course of her life was truly set.

Mother to Elephants takes young readers through some of Daphne's life in Kenya and some of the lessons she learned. This picture book is easily digestible for young kids, and I love the further info at the end. I do wish there'd been a line or two about Kenya gaining independence, though space is limited, so I understand why the author chose to focus elsewhere. The illustrations are simple and sweet, and the playfulness of young elephants really comes through.

Sheldrick wrote several books herself, and Love, Life, and Elephants has been on my radar for a while. I'd suggest pairing Love, Life, and Elephants as a gift for a book-happy parent with Mother to Elephants as a gift for their child. Everybody learns something!

Piece by Piece tells the story of Ernestine Guerrero, a Mexican-American girl living through the Great Depression—and what a cool piece of history this book offers. Her family weathered the Depression with the support of government food aid, and she wanted to send the president something in return—and what she settled on was a veritable masterpiece of skill, ingenuity, and perseverance.

I'd never heard of Guerrero or her clock (can't even find a Wikipedia article on either of them!), but this is a story worth telling, and I'm glad that kids who read this book can now grow up knowing it—and seeing the clock, if they're ever in Hyde Park. The book doesn't belabor the point, but I also appreciate the subtle acknowledgement (in an era when people are afraid of anything that might look like socialism) of how much government assistance can help when times are rough, and how much good it can do. As the book notes, not much is known of Guerrero's later life, but I hope she found a way to keep her creativity and skill alive.

Ruth First Never Backed Down tells the story of (you guessed it) Ruth First, a South African woman who fought to end apartheid.

Written for young readers, this picture book covers First's life from a young age—learning from her parents about structural and systematic racism in South Africa—on through her years as a student, activist, and exilee. Her family was from Latvia and had escaped persecution as Jews in Europe, so perhaps they saw the injustice more clearly than others were willing to. I was not familiar with Ruth First prior to reading this—she was murdered well before I was born, and all told I have not read that much about South Africa under apartheid—but it's a valuable read. It's probably one where it's useful for adults to have some additional information on hand, as it's likely to raise questions, but the story successfully walks a fine line between 1) being direct about the realities of both apartheid and opposing apartheid and 2) keeping things at a level that young readers can grasp. I'll have to look for First's account of being detained by the South African government, because it sounds like she was, well, not one to back down.

The illustrations are lovely, and I particularly appreciate the understated way in which First's age progresses throughout.

Thanks to the authors and publishers for providing review copies through NetGalley.