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Book Cover for: The Bird and the Elephant: Philosophy for young minds, Dominic Smith

The Bird and the Elephant: Philosophy for young minds

Dominic Smith

The Bird and The Elephant starts with an introduction and is then broken up into 10 poetic discussions. It also features 11 beautifully drawn illustrations.

A bird is flying high one day when he decides he needs to take a rest. He glances down below and aims for a large rock. But it isn't a rock! He shockingly discovers he's landed on an elephant's back. They begin having a conversation. The bird is impatient and hot headed while the elephant is calming and wise. Through their discussions the bird learns a lot about life and ultimately, himself.

The discussions are:

  • Who are we?
  • Where do we come from?
  • Why are we here?
  • Friendship
  • Why do bad things happen?
  • Happiness
  • Morality
  • Destiny
  • Love
  • Philosophy

Book Details

  • Publisher: Joseph & Simon Publishing
  • Publish Date: Aug 1st, 2017
  • Pages: 48
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.00in - 5.00in - 0.12in - 0.14lb
  • EAN: 9781527209824
  • Recommended age: 07-11
  • Categories: Poetry - GeneralPhilosophyAnimals - General

About the Author

Smith, Dominic: - "Having lived in Brazil, Germany, UK, and Northern Ireland, the now - London based - Dominic, presents his story. Philosophy, at its most basic is your take on life and its biggest and most challenging questions. This is Dominic's take. He hopes it inspires you to think about yours. Dominic has been interested in poetry and story writing since a young child. This love grew and blossomed into a music career, writing songs and lyrics and performing all over the world. As a soloist he has won Best MC awards in 2014 and 2015, and as part of a band he won the Mercury Prize, a MOBO and a Q award in the late 90s. A career in radio soon followed, hosting a national chart show that kept him close to the music and rhymes he loves. The 'Bird and the Elephant' was inspired by a simple photo of a bird sat on an elephant's back. This brought forward thoughts about the wonderful conversations they might share together, and that transformed into the work you have just read and hopefully enjoyed."

Praise for this book

"Philosophy for children? Is it possible? Yes!!! This endearing book takes you for a ride with the bird and the elephant. They discuss several topics. The bird doesn't agree with the elephant. As they discussed their different topics the bird sees the elephant's thoughts." Susan

"Wonderful! I was smiling almost the entire time I was reading this. It definitely made my heart light. I have to applaud Dominic Smith for writing this brilliant book. Thank you! It's such a happy and simple read." Mona Loise

"I was really impressed with this book. It makes you think, and the 'discussion poetry' is well written and enjoyable. I like the artwork as well. I tried it with a couple of different ages.After a couple of weeks, they started asking some really great questions as well, things they learned from this book." Miss Meghans Class

"I really loved this book. It's beautifully written and I could easily read it again, its easy to follow as the author has given each voice a different text style. It is not too heavy and is just enough to make you think and question, the book does exactly what the author meant it to do" Donna Maguire

"This wonderful, simple, rhyming story is a great introduction to philosophy. I highly recommend it!" Connie