Irma Gold (text) and Wayne Harris (illustrator), Seree’s Story, Walker Books, March 2022, 32 pp., RRP $26.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781925126990
Author Irma Gold shares a thought-provoking story about elephant conservation.
Seree is a happy elephant who loves to play in the mud, eat bananas and spend time with her family. That is until poachers arrive, and she is sadly separated from her mother and the rest of her family.
The years ahead for Seree are filled with being cruelly worked at a circus by day while longing for her family at night. While living her life in chains she dreams of her old life and her loved ones and imagines escaping back to her herd.
When Seree feels at her lowest, she is approached by strangers in the night. This all too familiar scenario scares Seree, though this time the strangers were kind and gentle. They offer her treats and help her to freedom where she reunites with her mother.
Wayne Harris manages to capture the sadness in Seree’s eyes when she is in captivity but also conveys the joy and happiness of the elephants at the beginning of the story and when they are reunited at the end.
While this book could be sensitive for some audiences it is supported with a valuable page of additional information at the back. It is on this page that I learnt that ‘Seree’ means ‘freedom’ – what a perfect name for the main character of this book.
Reviewed by Raquel Mayman
