Madelyn's Thoughts on Thunder:  An Elephant's Journey.  I really like this story because it's realistic (except for the talking elephants).  The book shows life as it is for endangered pygmy elephants.  It's true that poachers simply do not care that they are harming living, breathing animals.  This book raises awareness by giving the animals a voice.  I enjoyed the story--and I really liked the illustrations.  I think it's a great book for older elementary aged/young middle school aged readers or families to read together.  The book would interest younger kids--but, some of the vocabulary may be too difficult for younger reading levels.

My Thoughts on Thunder:  An Elephant's Journey.  I also really liked the story--but, I loved Charlotte's Web and Winnie the Pooh and other books with talking animals!  It is a story that creates awareness of a very difficult subject--but, truly personalizing it to the elephant and his feelings and emotions.  The story flowed well from beginning to end and created enough interest to excite me for the other books in the series.   

I think the book is written in such a way that makes it perfectly for families to share or for older readers to read alone.  It's perfect for strong readers in upper elementary or lower middle school--though, as an adult, I enjoyed the simple story!  I would recommend it for use in introducing and supplementing science or social studies topics related to endangered species and protective efforts for them.  Readers will find a host of resources and agencies related to the support and treatment of endangered animals at the end of the book for additional learning (or volunteer/support opportunities).

As I read, I thought that this book would make a wonderful, family movie--and was pleased to learn that there was a plan for a short film.

Oddly enough, I didn't really pay a lot of attention to the illustrations--but, they impressed my daughter greatly.  So--I had to (slow down) and go back and take a look at them!  I would encourage you to take note of them.  They are really well done and do add even more personality to the book's pages.