What to Do If an Elephant Stands On Your Foot

Starred review from May 7, 2012
Reading like an edgier version of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, this faux guide to the jungle offers advice for Indiana Jones wannabes. The prim narrator directly addresses the hero, a boy dressed in safari gear. “In the event of startling an elephant, you will probably feel like running away, rather quickly. Try not to! Running may attract tigers.” British author Robinson has the boy failing, time and again, to take the narrator’s advice, resulting in a chain of disasters: sneezing to awaken a rhinoceros, climbing a tree full of snakes (“Now sit tight and try not to make any sudden movements. Like that one”), being surrounded by crocodiles, and finally resorting to screaming for help. A band of dopey-looking monkeys come to the boy’s rescue, though it isn’t long before he’s back in hot water. Reynolds’s digital illustrations are even more rambunctious and action-driven than his work in 2011’s Huck Runs Amuck! and he’s especially clever at playing the reactions of the hapless hero for laughs—and there are plenty of them. Ages 3–5. Agent: Celia Catchpole. Illustrator’s agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties.

May 15, 2012
The moral of this tongue-in-cheek instruction book is, Don't Startle the Elephant. If, in the course of your explorations, an elephant stands on your foot, "keep calm," lest you rouse the tiger, and then the rhino, snakes and crocodiles, requiring a rescue by monkeys. Our intrepid explorer (outfitted with safari vest, adventurer's hat and binoculars) has one misadventure after another in this effective collaboration between words and pictures. Sharp-eyed readers will see the problems coming even before the reveal of the page turn. The narrator, whose helpful advice appears in the white above the cartoon-like illustrations, is not above saying "[t]old you so" and "don't say I didn't warn you." While adults may want to remind the creators there are no tigers on the African savanna, the apparent setting for this romp---why not a leopard or a lion?--children will happily go along with the story's silliness. Reynolds' traveler bears a strong resemblance to his rendition of Judy Moody. His Horton-like elephant is particularly appealing, his tiger and alligators especially toothy, and the monkeys downright manic. The humor of these watercolor drawings fits the exaggeration of the storyline nicely. When the ending suggests that the story is starting over, listeners will be happy to hear it again. This is Robinson's first published picture book, but others are in the pipeline. A promising launch. (Picture book. 4-8)

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July 1, 2012

PreS-Gr 1-An intrepid child, decked out in full safari kit, is warned by an offstage guide, "If an elephant stands on your foot, keep calm." Otherwise, it leads to all kinds of trouble-from tigers to snakes to crocodiles. When that happens, you obviously need to call on monkeys to rescue you. Whew! First-time author Robinson's simple, amusing text is paired with Reynolds's engaging cartoon illustrations; they extend the humor with exaggerated facial expressions and comical settings. Perfect for storytimes, this picture book lends itself well to dialogic reading, allowing children to discuss what's happening, extend the text, and predict what may come next. Be sure to offer this to fans of Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse... books (HarperCollins) or pair them up in storytimes.-Sharon Grover, Hedberg Public Library, Janesville, WI

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