Young Mouse and Elephant: An East African Folktale - Hardcover

Farris, Pamela J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0395739772 ISBN 13: 9780395739778

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1996

Synopsis

Young Mouse thinks he is the strongest animal around, but his wise grandfather disagrees and tells him that Elephant is the strongest, so Young Mouse sets out to find Elephant and show her who is stronger, in an entertaining East African folktale.

About this title

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2?In this humorous folktale, when excessively proud Young Mouse brags that he is the strongest animal on the plains, his wise Grandfather suggests that Elephant is a great deal stronger. As the outraged youngster sets off to prove himself, a storm is brewing. He encounters several animals, asking each of them if they are Elephant, and promising to stomp them to bits if they are. Lizard is terrified by a clap of thunder, and believes that Young Mouse has created it. Zebra darts away after a bolt of lightning coincides with the little fellow's threatening speech. Even Giraffe flees in fear when a rain cloud obscures the sun, seemingly at Young Mouse's command. Children will be amused by the tiny hero's misplaced bravado and roar with laughter over his absurdly cocky stances, playfully depicted in the simple, warm cartoon art. Inevitably, he finds Elephant, who fills her trunk with water and effortlessly blasts him across the savanna. Shaking himself off, the still boastful Young Mouse eases his wounded ego. Gorbachev's illustrations are perfectly suited to this tale's audience; they are full of mischief and fun and are a delightful match for this clever retelling.?Jennifer Fleming, Boston Public Library
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

A boastful mouse bridles when his grandfather suggests that Elephant might in fact be stronger than he, then sets off to confront the great beast, vowing to "break Elephant apart and stomp her to bits." A series of coincidences involving an approaching storm and the various animals Young Mouse encounters only bolsters his bravado (e.g., lightning flashes as he brags to a zebra, who exclaims, "The small mouse made the sky break into pieces!"). On the other hand, when Elephant dismisses the mouse with a blast of water from her trunk, the clueless braggart chalks it up to the weather ("Hump! The storm must have washed Elephant away"). First-time author Farris, a professor of children's literature, ably retells this folktale, while Gorbachev's limber, understated illustrations, rendered in the sun-parched shades of the savanna, give the story's comic elements plenty of play. Ages 5-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0395739772
• ISBN 13: 9780395739778
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Gorbachev Valeri