Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends

Did you catch the CBS clip a while back about the elephant and the stray dog who became best friends? Well, the lovely Carol Buckley, founder of The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, has written a children's book that features her photos of that unlikely pair of best buds. The result is heartwarming. Kiddo loves this book, and I do too. It's such a good story that I don't mind reading it over and over again. It also gives us a good opportunity to talk about why we don't go to the circus or visit elephant exhibits at zoos. I'm sure Tarra the elephant was adorable on roller skates during her performing days, but I'm even more certain that she's far happier roaming a sanctuary with her friends.

Tarra had a long career as an entertainer and even appeared in an episode of "Little House on the Prairie." She was a standout on the set, but even elephants need to retire at some point in time and she was the "first resident of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee." There she would not be asked to roller-skate, stand on her hind legs while standing on a small bench or play a bit part in a movie. Tarra could just be herself and roam the Sanctuary at her will instead of being cooped up in a zoo. Other elephants began to arrive and as they settled in they made a "special friend." There were Winkie and Sissy and Dulary and Misty, but Tarra just had not found a special companion. Then one day this scruffy yellow stray dog named Bella was sleeping next to her when she woke up. Tarra began to chirp with delight and somehow the two became fast friends. Mind you, elephants don't cotton to dogs, but now the Sanctuary saw the "beginning of an amazing relationship . . . Tarra and Bella began to do everything together." They swam together, they ran together, they ate together and they even learned to talk to each other. One day Bella was nowhere to be found and Tarra, who probably was very frightened, refused to budge from where she was standing. Bella was found and she was injured. What was going to happen to these two friends now? This was one of the most heartwarming stories of love and friendship I've read in some time. It's now a widely known story about Tarra and Bella's extraordinary friendship, but I was still awed by the story and the photographs were awesome to say the least. This is a simple, yet powerful story of friendship that has a few subtle messages that we can all learn to incorporate in our hearts. In the back of the book is more information about the Elephant Sanctuary and provides an online link to a "real-time video" of the residents. Look for the EleCam and see if you can identify any of the elephants. Awesome, simply awesome!

I saw Steve Hartman's Assignment America on the CBS Evening News about Tarra and Bella and fell in love. When I heard that there was a book coming out about the two friends, I pre-ordered it. I teach second grade, and have been working on community building in my classroom for the first part of the year. There had been some issues with tattling, unkind words, etc. amongst the kids, and I was able to create a lesson on the importance of kindness and friendship that revolved around Tarra and Bella's story. The pictures are phenomenal, many of them stills from the CBS piece, but the story is more detailed than what originally aired. I still get choked up when I read it!

One of my goals in life is to grow up and become a kid. Some people say I am a perpetual kid. In either case I like Tarra & Bella. It is a fun and friendly book for children of all ages.

This book tells the true story of Tarra and Bella, and how much Tarra missed her friend when Bella was injured in a fall. It's a perfect read for children, and this 40-year-old enjoyed it, too! Plenty of wonderful photos, and educational too (there are details about the differences between African and Asian elephants, their diets, etc). It's a book any elephant fan (and dog fans, too!) would enjoy. The friendship between these two is absolutely charming. Photos include frame-by-frame images from video taken of the moment Tarra and Bella were reunited while Bella was convalescing.