Barroux’s Where’s the Elephant? begins innocently enough as an image-search picture book— looking on each page for an elephant, a snake, and a bird. They’re camouflaged in the forest and initially pretty hard to find, but when parts of the forest are cut down it becomes easier to find the animals on the page as more of their forest is cleared.

Man-made structures: homes, roads, and larger buildings begin to creep into the cleared land until little wildlife is left.

Where’s the Elephant? is told primarily through vibrant images and with dramatic effect. Young readers can understand the images and the story being told. It’s an excellent example of deforestation and the consequences of urbanization for even the youngest reader.

You can find a copy of Where’s the Elephant? here, here, and here, or from your local library.