“Cousins of Clouds: Elephant Poems” was a collection of poems that described different facts about elephants. Elephants are my favorite animal so I really liked the idea behind this collection of poems. What I liked most was that along with the poems was a small box that had information about why the poem was written. For example, the poem “Ivory” was written as if the elephant was explaining why someone couldn't take their ivory. On the same page with the poem was a small box that explained the history of elephants being killed for their tusks because their tusks are made of ivory. In the poem “Mud Spa” the elephant is explaining how much it loves mud. The box informs the reader that elephants have sensitive skin and the mud helps soothe the pain of bug bites and sunburn. The last poem in the book was called “Inspiration” the poem and the box both explained that many cultures use elephants for inspiration in the art work, even if elephants are not native to their homeland. ( )

Wonderful collection of imaginative and informative poems about all things elephant. Lovely illustrations. ( )

Cousins of Clouds by Tracie Vaughn Zimmer Illustrated by Megan Halsey. The book has an elephant theme with beautiful and amazingly relevant illustrations. I love the last of the collection entitled: “Inspiration” which talks about the symbolic nature of elephants spanning over many cultures and time periods. The gorgeous illustrations add to the beauty and meaning of the poetry. Also, it included many different styles of poetry.

Zimmer gives us a book of poems dedicated to the majesty of elephants. Poems are accompanied by vivid illustrations and informational text describing scientific and historical facts about elephants, as well as elephant-related folklore from around the world. ( )

Evocative poetry about many aspects of elephants. Includes historical facts and different cultures' view of elephants as well.