The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

The Girl Who Stole an Elephant - Nizrana Farook

Chaya can talk her way out of anything - except stealing the Queen's jewels. Even if she had the best of reasons...So she escapes on the back of a stolen elephant and leads her friends on a jungle adventure, where leeches lurk and revolution is stirring. And this gives Chaya an idea. Maybe she can leave her village a thief but return a hero?

A sunny day in isolation and I knew exactly what I was going to pick up. The Girl Who Stole and Elephant has been sitting on my bookshelf for a while now after picking it up when it was first released. The children at school have loved it and the two weeks' work we did around the book in our Authorfy club (would highly recommend) built up plenty of excitement around the book. I still have the proof copy left to give away to one lucky author of the term when we do return to school!

I devoured this in one day and it really was a story that I couldn't put down thanks to the non-stop action. It's been a while since I read a story that is so action-packed - every chapter has a new twist or introduces a new character that takes our hero, Chaya, on part of her journey.

The story follows Chaya, a talented Robin Hood-style thief, as she attempts to pull off her biggest heist yet: stealing the Queen's jewels. Yet this job doesn't quite go to plan and she finds herself putting her friend Neel in danger and then escaping the palace on the King's friendly elephant.

Every chapter of this book brings a new dilemma or plot twist for Chaya and her friends and it would make a brilliant read aloud for those unbeatable "Nooo Miss, don't stop!" moments. I loved the fact that Chaya is a female heroine - much to the confusion of many of the palace guards - and her strong-willed personality really shines through during many of the conversations she shares with strangers in the story. It's also great to see a story set somewhere exotic and less familiar to most children. It reminded me in many ways of Eva Ibbotson's Journey to the River Sea simply because of the vibrant setting descriptions and transportation to the warm jungle environment.

I think this is a brilliant read throughout Key Stage Two, the perfect page turner for those who love an action story that really doesn't let up.

An action-packed jungle adventure with a fierce heroine who is determined to succeed.

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