THE WORLD'S LONELIEST ELEPHANT

No creature should be locked up for life.

After then-President Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (who is unnamed in the text) arranged for the delivery of an elephant to Pakistan in the mid-1980s, the year-old calf, Kaavan, was kept chained in the Marghazar Zoo for 35 years. For 22 of those years, Kaavan was kept with Saheli, a female elephant, but after her death, Kaavan was left alone. Thankfully, there is a happy ending to the tale, as concerned people around the world—including Egyptian veterinarian Dr. Amir Khalil and pop star Cher—raised awareness of Kaavan’s miserable and lonely life, and he was eventually relocated to Cambodia’s Kulen Promtep Wildlife Sanctuary, where he had more room and other elephants to socialize with. The story explores Kaavan and Dr. Khalil’s relationship and follows the journey to ensure that Kaavan would not be lonely anymore. The real star of this beautifully told story is the artwork, which deftly captures Kaavan’s pain. The illustrations—gouache and acrylic on wood—feature bands of grain below the painted surface that give a hazy beauty to the pages and a remarkable amount of texture to Kaavan’s skin. An author’s note and a brief list of sources provide additional information for curious readers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Sad, sublime, and surely something special.