ELEPHANT BOY OF THE TEAK FOREST

A story of Siam- of a water village family- and particularly of Prad, who went to the teakwood forests with his father, who was an experienced elephant man, and who learned to care for the elephants, even to handle the half-wild elephant whose owner was eventually found. There's an interesting cross-section of peasant life and life of westernized Siamese that takes this out of the groove of presenting only the primitive aspects. There's a bit of mystery, a goodly slice of adventure- and something of the feel of the jungle life.