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A boy and his elephant play in the garden (and make a mess). They play inside (and make a mess). His grandma and grandad might be too busy to play with him, but his elephant is always willing to join in the fun (and make a mess).
''Elephant'' is a charming book. When the boy tells his grandma that the elephant ate the cakes, but she doesn't believe him, so he wants to be alone, your heart goes out to him. There are all manner of truths, half-truths and lies woven into that, but that's what makes it so sweet. Slightly more literal children might not quite get the ending, where it turns out that it was a dream, but it wasn't a dream. A little suspension of disbelief is required - but of course , that's always the case, whether it be [[The Tiger Who Came to Tea by Judith Kerr|tigers eating all the food in the house except for the people]] or [[The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle|caterpillars eating chocolate cake]].
Petr Horáček's illustrations are wonderful. The scribbled skin of the elephant seems such a simple idea, but of course , it's absolutely perfect and gets the texture spot-on. The coloured-in pencil sketches for the human characters make them seem warm and friendly.
It's a wonderfully gentle story that would make for perfect bedtime reading. It's sweet, fun, well-written, well-illustrated, and just a joy to read. Recommended.
Thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.
If wild animals are your thing, then check out [[ROAR! by Margaret Mayo and Alex Ayliffe]]. [[Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell]] is also well worth a look. You might also enjoy [[Blue Penguin by Petr Horacek]].
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