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

The receipient of this wonderful book, about an unlikely friendship between an 8700 lb. Asian elephant named Tarra and a stray dog called Bella, was my 7 year old grand niece. I had 'adopted' Tarra for her earlier in the year from The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee so this book was a lovely adjunct to Tarra's story. Just recently we discovered that Bella had been killed by coyotes and how much Tarra had mourned the loss of her friend which was featured on CBS news as a human interest story in November. Their unusual pairing had also been featured years earlier on TV. The photos in the book are quite heartwarming and Tarra & Bella's friendship teaches a youngster a beautiful lesson of acceptance (lack of prejudice), loyalty, empathy, and trust for those totally different from themselves. I really loved the book and so did Gracie.

I purchased this book to add to my class set. Last year's students loved it so much that a few wanted to take their book home permanently. Fast delivery.

What a powerful book of two unlikely friends who came to respect, love and be in separable. I was not prepared for the ending at all because I wanted to believe that such love and friendship endures forever. It does, but not within the confines of reality on this side of life. When we cross over on our spirit journey we will be reunited with all we have loved, not matter how many legs and wings and sounds and songs that he/she has. Still, it is hard to leave this true story and not feel great loss and love.

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!

I gave this away as a birthday gift and my girlfriend read it and loved it and passed it on to her daughter as they both love animals. It is a great book showing the love of a dog for a huge mammal who is so gentle, she never stepped on the dog.

I first saw the story of Tarra & Bella on TV, it is a wonderful story. I thought I would love to share this story with my students at school and with my grandsons. The book is a wonderful and strange story of the friendship of a retired entertainment elephant on a compound in Tennessee. The rest of the elephants had paired off and Tarra was left by herself, until one day a stray dog shows up and they became fast, inseparable friends. Everyone that has read or heard this story loves the story of Tarra and Bella.

One of my grandchildren was so fascinated with the story that I must have read it to him (4 yrs. old) 15 times over the weekend. It is a little short for the price tag, but all those glossy photos add up. It's a senstive book that touches the heart and makes kids more aware of the possibility of friendships between dissonant people and things. We even went online and saw real-time videos of elephants at the sanctuary. I purchase books and read constantly to my 10 grandchildren, and this is the 1st book that touched me in such a way.

Touching story. Sad almost because no animal lover wants an elephant to be so lonely--even though it's about a truly amazing relationship between a dog and an elephant. I did not realize it was a children's book (though I enjoyed it thoroughly), so that was a surprise. People should read this book who are amazed at odd relationships in the animal world. This book inspired me to look into elephant preservation. I am planning a trip to visit and support the elephant preservation project that sponsored this book. Let's start sensitizing the younger generations to the plight of wild animals.

This is a lovely book. I knew the story already, and this book confirmed in words and pictures just how touching and poignant a story it is.

It's a great book, so I recommend it to my friends.