Helfer is a Hollywood animal behaviorist. He has trained elephants, tigers, bears have appeared in numerous films and on TV. He tells of this elephant who was born the same day as a boy in Germany, whose father is a circus person. The two grow up together and are inseparable. The circus is bought up by an American wo wants the elephant but not the boy (because he is Jewish). The boy stows away on the ship that carries the circus animals. They get shipwrecked but the elephant saves many lives by staying afloat and providing a life raft for the drowning passengers. They end up in India, where they are pursued by the American circus owner who wants his property back. They do end up in the States where they have other adventures and are separated but end up in Helfer's menagerie, which is how Helfer writes about them. Very interesting and touching.-Vivian H.