The Girl Who Stole an Elephant

Product Information

This is the story of a girl called Chaya, a thief. She ends up on an adventure of a lifetime after stealing quite a big prize…The Queen’s jewels. For an even better way to find KS2 resources, discover tailored suggestions, and much more - visit the KS2 resource HUB! GO TO KS2 HUB This is the sort of book that gets into the action straight away and keeps going at a relentless pace. With 48 very short chapters, it is ideal to share with a class and will definitely have children begging you to read on.

A glorious fast-paced adventure through the jungle. I love Chaya’s spirit and determination and the friendships that are built along the way. I feel I am there with Chaya and her friends. The Girl Who Stole an Elephant is adventuring at its best; a mystery, a jewel thief, and an escape into the jungle with an elephant at your side. – Gill Lewis, author of Sky Hawk In January 2020, it won the Waterstone’s Children’s Book of the Month. Blue Peter even recognised the book for its greatness. And I really do not like reading a book in which the main character acts as if they have figured out everything and sees everyone as stupid. A good, daring adventure, for the middle school set written by someone who is familiar with the landscape she is writing about, because she was born and raised in Sri Lanka. My son made me read this, it was a Year 6 topic book, and he enjoyed it so much he wanted me to read it too. When I finally had a copy, he kept asking me what part I was up to, which I really liked, sharing that with him.I enjoyed the lush descriptions of the jungle and the general setting that the trio finds themself in. It was interesting positioning Nour as a newcomer to town, which allowed for explanation of some of the things that Chaya and Neel took for granted as normal.

Chaya is a strong female lead. Surrounded by people who underestimate girls, Chaya manages to get away with an awful lot. She’s feisty, brave and sometimes difficult, making her a breath of fresh air compared to many other female characters. in Schools Catalogue 2023–24, 1461 in Education Catalogue 2023–24 and 656 in UK Primary September 2023 FormatThere are a lot of beautiful moments sprinkled throughout, and I absolutely love the jungle setting and how Farook pains the picture for us. We learn little bits of information about jungle plants and how the wildlife live. As dangerous as it can be sometimes, it really made me want to explore this jungle myself. This is spoiler-free, but I was pleasantly surprised towards the end of the book about a certain little twist. If you read it, you'll know what I mean. The Girl Who Stole an Elephant is the fantastic debut novel by author, Nizrana Farook. This fast-paced adventure is perfectly suited for use in the Key Stage 2 classroom.

A glorious fast-paced adventure through the jungle. I love Chaya's spirit and determination and the friendships that are built along the way. The Girl Who Stole an Elephant is adventuring at its best; a mystery, a jewel thief, and escape into the jungle with an elephant at your side.” Gill Lewis, author of Sky Hawk

This book was given as a gift to my seven-year old daughter, and I found the cover appealing enough to want to read it. For a child, this one's a really good, fast-paced adventure, with lots of twists and turns and hair-raising moments when you think all is over for the heroes. I liked the feistiness and strength of character of the three main female characters (even Nour, who initially comes across as a bit of rather silly baggage), and there's a lot to say for a heroine who keeps having to rescue the hero (if one could call Neel that). It romps along nicely, with fish-out-of-water, danger, chases, and a good dollop of social conscience and dissatisfaction with poor rulers. Yes. It’s not very unusual in the part of the world I come from. I wouldn’t do it now. There was this one time we were on holiday in a rural part of Sri Lanka and the house we stayed in had its own resident elephant. She had been part of the dowry of the lady who owned the house. The elephant seemed quite happy mooching about the large grounds with her mahout, but she must have led a very lonely life as elephants are such social creatures. Did you always know the role Ananda would play in the story? She studies people well. She gets a bit obnoxious at times. And she gets a bit problematic towards the end. She's impulsive and a bit rash. Nour's character is almost fluttering like she might disappear anytime. I wish his part was planned well.

Chaya, a no-nonsense, outspoken hero, leads her friends and a gorgeous elephant on a noisy, fraught, joyous adventure through the jungle where revolution is stirring and leeches lurk. Will stealing the queen’s jewels be the beginning or the end of everything for the intrepid gang? The Girl Who Stole an Elephant is such a great adventure story! Did you always want to write something with loads of action? The story centres around Chaya, the brave and no-nonsense lead character, and her two companions – Neel and Nour. Chaya steals trinkets from people who are too rich to even notice they are missing and uses them to help those in need. However, her decision to steal the Queen’s jewels unwittingly plunges herself, her friends and her family into real danger. The thrilling adventure that ensues is breath-taking and the pace never lets up until the story reaches its exhilarating conclusion. Overall, this was a fun and easy read. I didn't connect emotionally with the characters, but it was a great palate cleanser, and I definitely think it would be enjoyable for younger readers.This was a very enjoyable middle grade full of adventure! This book was full of diversity in characters as well as culture, which is always refreshing in any genre—but especially in middle grade books. Our cast of characters, specifically our three main friends, made the story what it was and were pretty well developed. There was also a lot of useful information in this story about the jungle, its inhabitants and their lifestyles. I love reading Middle-Grade as an adult for many reasons, but the biggest is nostalgia. Some of my favorite formative books are about tweens facing overwhelming obstacles, yet somehow overcoming them. To me, that’s what makes a MG book work. As tweens are facing big changes both inside themselves and the bigger outside world beyond their guardians’ influence, these are the stories that can both encourage and enlighten them most of all. A well-written Middle-Grade novel, like The Girl Who Stole an Elephant doesn’t just transport the reader to another time and place, but challenges them to think. As a grown-up kidlit fan, I don’t face quite the same issues as my younger peers, but I still feel that same sense of adventure, and the same excitement I felt reading these kinds of stories as a tween. Thank you, Nizrana! I will read that leech scene with new eyes next time. And thank you for taking time out from writing your next book to answer these questions. Hope it wasn’t too much time, mind.