Elephant's Story

September 1, 2013
In this offbeat tale, friendship forms as the result of a lovable, bumbling elephant's mistake. When Elephant comes across a lost book, he accidentally inhales its words. The words are soon sneezed out, but the letters are in chaos. Not knowing how to fix them, Elephant takes the letters to his friends, who, much to Elephant's distress, are not very interested in restoring them to the book. Clever design shows Alligator about to "chew" the letters, while Seal just wants to "spin" them. The use of a limited palette and lots of undecorated white space makes the close communication of jungle, savannah, forest and marine animals seem more plausible than it would otherwise. Finding no real help, he just sniffs the letters back up into his trunk. When Gracie--the book's owner--finds Elephant sitting on her beloved book, strangely, she chooses to pull on his trunk (an action that seems rather cruel). Only after that doesn't work does she tickle him, which elicits a sneeze that releases the letters. Gracie then uses the letters to create a new story about friendship. The adorable endpapers are particularly noteworthy, featuring Elephant posing as the 26 letters in the English alphabet, echoing the main theme of the book. A sweet, funny story--though not without its awkward moments--with a metafictive theme that should entertain. (Picture book. 3-6)

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September 1, 2013

PreS-Gr 1-Elephant is worried. It shows in his eyes. He has accidentally sucked up all the words in Gracie's favorite book. When he presents the blank-paged book to his friends, they don't know what to do. Instead of making words, Seal spins the letters around his nose, Monkey throws them around, and Alligator eats them. There are some tense moments when Gracie sees Elephant sitting on her lost book, so she pulls on his trunk and tickles it, and a big sneeze produces all the missing words. Pearson's humorous illustrations are drawn with a loose flowing line. An overlay of light watercolors brings to life Elephant's expressive face. Endpapers show him making the letters of the alphabet with this body. A lighthearted picture book for storytimes about friendship, cooperation, or books.-Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2013
Preschool-G First, let's talk about the fantastic endpapers, where Elephant, star of the show, contorts himself adorably into the shape of each letter of the alphabet, using his trunk to great advantage. Then, the story begins with the line, The day Gracie loses her favorite book, Elephant finds it. Elephant sniffs the red hardcover, but his sniffing powers are so developed that the words written inside the book get sucked right up his trunk. When he sneezes, you know what that means: letters spewed everywhere. Elephant can't put the letters back into words, and so he asks for help. But Alligator wants to eat the letters, Seal wants to spin them like a ball, and the monkeys want to toss them around. Eventually, Elephant gives up and faces a difficult question from Gracie: Where are my words? With a little teamwork, Gracie and new pal Elephant set things straight. Pearson's art is the real winner here, as a loosely outlined, gray watercolor elephant with great facial expressions cavorts gigantically across the pages. A good choice for the smallest book lovers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)