Best friends come in all shapes and sizes! After retiring from the circus, Tarra became the first resident of the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. When other elephants moved in and developed close friendships, only Tarra remained independent? until the day she met a stray mixed-breed dog named Bella.

This book tells the true story of Tarra the elephant and Bella the dog: a pair of animals who became unlikely best friends. Tarra was an elephant who was used in the entertainment industry for most of her life. Bella was a stray dog in a wildlife conservation in Tennessee. Tarra was the first elephant taken to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. More elephants were brought there, but none developed a bond with Tarra. While most of the elephants in the sanctuary were afraid of the stray dogs, Tarra was not. One dog, Bella, was very interested in Tarra as well. The two became inseparable, and were able to communicate and interact with each other in unique ways. One day, Bella injured her spinal cord and went missing. Tarra stood nearby all day until workers noticed Bella lying in a small ditch. While she was healing. Bella was kept inside, but Tarra somehow knew which building she was in. The two animals would call out to each other, until the workers finally brought Bella outside. Throughout her healing process, Bella was taken outside to see Tarra everyday. Her spine healed over time, and she was able to walk and play with Tarra again. Throughout the book, photographic images are used to show each event.

The main idea of this text is that best friends can be very different from each other, and that the support and love of a best friend is so important for a happy and healthy life. Tarra's quality of life improved because of Bella and vice versa. Without Tarra, Bella may have never been found after her injury. The two animals supported each other and loved each other, and their quality of life improved because of this. ( )

See my Q&A including updates with Carol Buckley and learn more about Tarra at www.readrantrockandroll.com

Tarra & Bella: The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends by Carol Buckley is the touching story about an unlikely animal friendship between Tarra the elephant, and Bella the dog at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee.

The story itself is so heartwarming, but the added photographs of Tarra & Bella make it one of the best animal friendship books we've read.

After reading about Tarra & Bella, we headed over to www.elephants.com to take a look at the live Elecam video feed. Children can view the elephants at the Elephant Sanctuary in real time.

Even though this book came out in 2009, it's one of our favorite children's books in 2017.

5***** ( )

The author tells the heartwarming story of Tarra the retired circus elephant, and her unlikely friend, Bella, the stray dog. Tarra is relocated to an elephant sanctuary in Tennessee and becomes fast friends with Bella the stray dog. I think this is a great book to use with younger children. It is nonfiction but it has a "story-like" feel to it; partially because Tarra and Bella are unlikely friends who face hardships and overcome them together. Readers will appreciate the real photographs of both Tarra and Bella. ( )

I know that this story is about a dog and Elephant-But the animals do not talk and it is a true story. this is about an elephant who was in the Circus and retired to live on a Elephant sanctuary. This stray dog was wandering around and they became friends. The story is very touching. When the dog got hurt the Elephant stayed outside in the exact spot waiting for her friend to return. when the dog didn't come back she searched for her and located her. Well the rest of the story is incredible so you should just read it too. I believe it is a story that all children should hear.
Ages 2-102
Source -Pierce county Library