Akimbo and the Elephants

Alexander McCall Smith, best-selling author of the celebrated No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series, connects with an entirely new audience with his beginning chapter book series featuring a young African boy fiercely devoted to the conservation of his animal friends. Akimbo lives on the large African game reserve where his father works, and is constantly on the lookout for an opportunity to see or learn something new. In Akimbo and the Elephants, the resourceful Akimbo helps foil an elephant poaching ring by secretly taking ivory seized by the park wardens and offering it to known poachers. When the poachers take the bait and invite Akimbo along on their illegal hunt, the boy slips away from the men and alerts the authorities. In Akimbo and the Lions, Akimbo helps raise a lion cub that is accidentally caught in a farmer’s trap and learns the true meaning of sacrifice when he must release his beloved Simba back into the wild. While Akimbo occasionally comes close to real danger, (an angry bull elephant charges towards him; a cornered lioness threatens him and his father) Smith always brings his small but determined hero safely out of harm’s way, having both learned a valuable lesson and gone on a great adventure. First published in the UK in 1990, resourceful Akimbo is being introduced to an American audience for the first time, and will undoubtedly be warmly welcomed by young fans of Ann Cameron’s Julian stories, and Paula Danziger’s Amber Brown books. –Jennifer Hubert