The Girl Who Stole an Elephant by Nizrana Farook takes you on an adventure in the jungle with jewel thief Chaya.
The book starts with Chaya fleeing the palace with the Queen’s jewels and being spotted by a guard. The King is very angry that someone was able to break into the palace and sends guards to search every village. Chaya runs to her friend Neel’s workshop where he carves beautiful wooden objects for his master to sell. They hide all but one of the jewels in one of the carved boxes which has a secret compartment.
Neel is Chaya’s cautious friend and is horrified by what she’s done. He explains the danger she has brought on everyone. Things go from bad to worse when a girl from a wealthy family called Noor comes to the workshop to buy something. Finding that a particular box is strangely heavy and that Neel and Chaya are behaving strangely at the idea of selling it she decides to buy the box.
So the adventure begins with these three young people and how they will go about getting the box back and the dangers that occur along the way. Treks through the jungle and prison breaks to follow.
This book is an exciting and atmospheric read. I felt transported to their village and to the jungle as they rampage through it on an elephant. To the royal palace and into the prison. Farook has built an interesting and realistic world to set her story in.
The characters are charming and it’s fun to watch the friendships develop between the main three characters, Chaya, Neel and Noor. It’s a story from the perspective of children which can cross the boundaries between the rich and the poor and has them racing across the rooftops of both.
A children’s book enjoyable for any age, whether you are a child reading this yourself, a parent reading it to your child or an adult wanting to enjoy the story yourself. Children’s books are always filled with plenty of adult themes. It’s a joy to read about a flawed world through the eyes of a child. In this case Chaya’s view that she can steal the jewels from the queen to save a boy who had been hurt in an accident. The belief in that and wish to take action to do something about it is very endearing.
An enjoyable read of friendship and adventure. Theft and kindness. Royalty and rebellion. It’s a lovely mix of ideas and tells us a lot about people and shows adults the errors of their ways through the eyes of children.
If you would like a little escape into another world in a far off and exciting land this is the book for you. Take a ride on the king’s elephant with Chaya and her friends.
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