IN THE VILLAGE OF THE ELEPHANTS

A natural-history writer teams up with a photographer whose work has appeared in Smithsonian and Newsweek to depict the working elephants in a wildlife preserve in southern India's Nilgiri Hills. Their mahouts live in a village of 15 houses, with elephants parked beside them ``like cars.'' Schmidt skillfully weaves information on the elephants' behavior, personalities, and life span and on their changed role in an area where deforestation has made the traditional work of logging illegal into a typical day during which Bomman, a mahout's young son, helps care for Mudumalai, a 27-year-old male elephant. There's a wealth of specific detail here, and it's all fascinating—how to hold on to the elephant's neck (the ``backbone is too sharp to sit on''); a scrub in a river (the touch must be firm because elephants are ticklish). The clarity of Schmidt's style and his logical sequencing is a particular pleasure. Wood's well-composed color photos, too, are excellent; they include plenty of beguiling takes on elephants and give an intimate sense of Bomman's life and world. Outstanding in every way. Map. (Nonfiction. 7+)