Pauline Gibb has an eclectic range of interests including swimming, kayaking, cycling, listening to music and playing women’s Australian Rules Football. Having been an educationalist until a recent sea change, she also has a passion for writing.She lives in Bayswater, a suburb in close proximity to the capital city of Perth, Western Australia, and shares her home with her two cats, a dog and a chicken.Elephants Do Cry is Pauline’s fourth published novel.
Innocence it is said, is a naïve and idealistic view of the world naturally occurring from a lack of experience. This was certainly true for Hugo, a young African forest elephant. He loved his family and the uncomplicated life he had as part of the herd into which he was born. Sheltered from the evil, pain and suffering taking place in the fragile environment in which the herd lived, he was free to be curious and pursue his passion for all the beautiful things surrounding him.The herd’s seasonal pilgrimage in search of food and water had Hugo full of anticipation. Unaware of the dangers that lurked outside his immediate environment, he saw the trek as one big adventure full of new and exciting experiences. This year he hoped would be no exception.Poaching was rife across the area the herd was travelling and it had placed the forest elephant populations under serious threat. The adult elephants in the herd were well aware of what they faced on their trek as they had completed it so many times before. This year however they were not alone and the journey’s end was not a guarantee.The first legs of the venture were fairly uneventful. However, a lack of worldliness and inexperience would soon see Hugo’s life take a turn for the worst in the unfamiliar territory.How did a butterfly start a sequence of events that has dire consequences for Hugo and his family? What is a wildebeest doing in an elephant herd? And why will this year’s migration be remembered as the most challenging one the herd has ever undertaken?
Leroy is no ordinary amphibian and his birthplace is no ordinary water hole. Those who share it with him have a few things to learn about survival and he is happy to teach them what they need to know, given that this place has taught him so much in his short life. No mean-spirited elder or fly-by-night visitor is going to sour his passion for his territory and look out those who try to mess with the habitat once each species has claimed their piece of paradise.
Try as it might to threaten the stability of this strong and diverse ecosystem, even Mother Nature’s fury is no match for the bonds that have been established. Her weather, with its ebb and flow, drought and flood, makes little impact on a wetland sustained by the camaraderie and trust of its occupants.
Could human intervention, however, be the one thing to disrupt the delicate balance of this undisturbed natural environment, placing the habitat and the lives of all creatures who populate it into jeopardy?
This is a furry tale in contrast to a fairy tale, telling the true story of Lola as seen through her own eyes. She takes the reader on the journey of her life from the moment she was rescued at Harding River Caravan Park in Roebourne as a three week old homeless kitten, to the day she arrives in Perth as a mature two year old cat.
Lola chronicles the personal trials and tribulations she faced growing up without a mother to guide and teach her what she needed to know to become an effective adult cat. Her story has elements of humour and sadness as she moves from the loss of her feline family to finding a human one who take her on with few expectations for her future.
A myriad of situations with both positive and negative outcomes shape Lola’s personality along the way to adulthood. These include learning to control her emotions and reactions to unfamiliar experiences, striving to find her niche in a family of other animals and coping with ridicule for being “different”. Lola however has a quirky philosophical and thankful attitude to life and no matter what hand she is dealt she develops resilience in the face of adversity, including the break-up of the family she came to love and respect for saving her.
You will laugh and you may cry following this fortunately unfortunate little cat who learns that growing up has many lessons, some harder than others. She becomes the feline equivalent of “The Three Stooges” fumbling her way through life. Despite the rough road she not only survives, but thrives thanks to her perseverance and enduring will to live!
Being born in Nishinari—a poor district of Japan—has its challenges, and for Kiki the mouse, these were more about his appearance than a lack of wealth, so his caring mother did all she could to build resilience in him before she allowed him to take his first excursion into the outside world.
Protected by her wise words and a special jacket she crafts for him, he sets off one night to see the sights with his brothers and sisters. That excursion teaches him the first in a series of lessons about survival as he and his siblings are confronted by a gang of feral rats.
Kiki learns valuable lessons about different personalities and the darker side of life on the streets as he ventures further and further away from home. This leads him on a quest for enlightenment, which has him stowing away on a cruise ship bound for Australia.
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