WOW Review: Volume XVII, Issue 3 • Page 6 of 12 • Worlds of Words

The Invisible Elephant
Written by Anna Anisimova
Illustrated by Yulia Sidneva
Translated by Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp
Restless Books, 2023, 104 pp
ISBN: 978-1632063243

The Invisible Elephant by Anna Anisimova is a touching and imaginative chapter book, translated from Russian, that follows the experiences of a young blind girl. The book highlights how the girl navigates the world using her other senses and a vivid imagination. Everyday experiences—like visiting a zoo, attending art class, or learning Braille—are transformed into magical adventures in four gentle and thoughtful stories. A walking stick becomes a horse and a sled turns into a whale, showing how her creativity helps her reimagine her surroundings. This beautifully illustrated book invites children to see through another perspective and celebrate the power of imagination.

At times, books similar to The Invisible Elephant may invite the reader to focus on trauma and struggle. Oftentimes, this approach can create a context in which a sight-challenged individual is forced to battle and overcome daunting challenges. This book challenges the narrative of trauma and struggles by portraying a main character who is happy, curious, playful, and growing up in a supportive environment. This strength-based perspective normalizes differing ways of perceiving the world, providing children with opportunities to acknowledge the girl as a human being, beyond her disability. This focus on the person also creates spaces for readers to develop understanding, acceptance of difference, and empathy, rather than immediately focusing on changing the girl or fixing her vision. The words attributed to Helen Keller, “The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision,” capture the essence of the main character, a young, courageous, and energetic blind girl living her life to the fullest.

The story playfully provides energy to support the action taking place. For the main character, the world is a mélange of sounds, smells, and sensations. The absence of sight allows the main character to experience the world with enjoyment and wonder. These experiences are not gathered in a special school nor are they experienced with the aid of guides. Instead, the author fashions experiences to energize this main character as she visits a zoo, a museum, and an art class. Moreover, the creative energy of this young lass is underscored through two transformations: the walking stick her grandpa uses changes into a snake and a sled becomes a whale. Additionally, an impactful scene features the young girl learning to read Braille. Her family and friends strongly support and cheer for her, inspiring the youngster to negotiate the world effectively.

Making the world of the blind accessible is a difficult task for any author. Yet, with a conscious choice to minimize the palette of colors, the author ensures that the girl’s lack of sight is emphasized through a complementary minimal use of colors. The illustrations by Yulia Sidneva show a restraint introduced with the cover of the book featuring a narrow range of color. Furthermore, after discovering an elephant’s shape after a museum visit, the incorporation of the outline of the elephant furthers this point in all future interactions with family and friends.

Books that pair well with The Invisible Elephant may be found in The International Board on Books for Young People’s (IBBY) Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities, which compiles a biennial list for a variety of ages and from different countries. Specifically, The Invisible Story by Jaime Gamboa and Wen Hsu Chen (2024) features a wide range of books having an argument to see which ones are most read. One book hiding in the shadows wishes it had bright colors rather than dots. However, it discovers these dots form Braille text. Also, We Can! – Make a Difference by Alexandra Strick and Steve Antony (2024) makes the world a better place through the voices of children, many of whom have a disability.

Born in Kropotkin, a small village located in Eastern Siberia, Anna Anisimova writes books for children in preschool and primary school. She earned her journalism degree from Novosibirsk State University, located in a Siberian scientific center in Russia called Akademgorodok. With her journalist’s and editor’s talents, Anisimova found great joy working with youngsters in camps to create stories. She felt fortunate to study at seminars conducted by great Russian authors including Mikhail Yasnov and Sergey Makhotin. Her work can be further explored on her website.

Yulia Sidneva is an artist and illustrator whose simple lines and breezy colors fit the storyline of this book most comfortably. She understands the author’s vision perfectly as her art is light, airy, and delicate, yet supported with enough detail to provide sufficient definition for the images being portrayed. This Moscow University State of Printing graduate designs many illustrations and print products. Sidneva, a master class instructor in book products, is also a designer at Semokat Publishing House. Visit Sidneva’s Instagram to explore her exceptional illustrations and artistic creations.

Ruth Ahmedzai Kemp is considered by many to have artfully translated The Invisible Elephant from Russian to English. The term “diff-abled” (a blend of differently and abled) is used by Kemp. Having two children with hearing aids, this translator felt connected with the “diff-abled” heroine of this book. Readers can learn more about Kemp’s translations on her website.

Joseph S. Pizzo, Black River Middle School and Centenary University, New Jersey

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