Dindy’s way of life is about to change for ever. She’s grown up on a tea plantation in Kerala but independence is coming, and the British, including Dindy’s family, are getting ready to leave India. Frightened at the prospect, Dindy takes her little brother out for an adventure, one that will put them both in real danger, and reveal all sorts of truths and secrets about the lives they have been living. Elizabeth Laird describes colonial life very well indeed, and Dindy is a real and sympathetic character. A beautifully written and ultimately uplifting story about a fascinating period of history. ~ Andrea Reece
Bored with her little brother Pog's childish games, Dindy decides that she's finally grown-up enough for a real adventure. While her mother is sleeping and the servants are busy, she takes Pog deep into the tea gardens, a place they are never supposed to go alone. Terrified by a wild animals and snubbed by the local children, Dindy starts to realize how little she really knows about India, even though it's the only place she's ever called home. But little does she know her life is about to be turned upside down when her mother is taken ill and her father tells her they are leaving India, for good.
Dindy and the Elephant is a wonderful portrait of a young British child coming to terms with leaving her beloved childhood home, while at the same time realizing that many of the things she has been raised to believe are wrong.
Elizabeth Laird is the multi-award-winning author of several much-loved children's books, including The Garbage King, The Prince Who Walked with Lions and The Fastest Boy in the World. She has been shortlisted for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie Medal six times. She lives in Britain now, but still likes to travel as much as she can.Read more about the author here.
