What the Elephant Told - Hardcover

Brenner, Barbara

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805064427 ISBN 13: 9780805064421

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2003

Synopsis

Believe it or not, a boy and an elephant have a lot in common . . .

When a young boy and a young elephant meet in an animal park, they instantly take a liking to each other.

“I was born out of my mother, too,” the boy said. “But first I grew inside her for nine months.”
“We grow inside our mothers for twenty-two months,” said the elephant.

They go on talking about how they each visit the bathroom, how they express fear, what they each eat . . . By the end of the day, they curl up together and nap—one sucking his thumb and the other his trunk.

Playful text and fun-filled illustrations reveal many true and fascinating commonalities between elephants and humans.

About this title

About the Author

Barbara Brenner has written over eighty books for children—from picture books to beginning readers to novels—which include books about nature, history, and art. Her Voices: Poetry and Art from Around the World was an ALA Notable Children’s Book. Ms. Brenner lives with her husband, the illustrator Fred Brenner, in Hawley, Pennsylvania.

Akemi Gutierrez has worked on a number of animated films for Disney. In addition to drawing, she likes to play with her many pets. She has two guinea pigs, two bunnies, two hamsters, and one husband, but no elephants. They are all squeezed into a happy home in southern California. This is her first book for children.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K-After they meet in an animal park, a young boy and an elephant take a walk and share several activities. During the time they spend together, they discuss their similarities (both were born "out of" their mothers, both take naps and hold on to grown-ups when they are afraid) and differences (elephants use tusks for lifting while humans use arms, people use toilets while elephants always "pee and poop" in the forest). While the story line is slight, Brenner manages to pack a lot of facts about these giant mammals into the accessible text. Done in gouache, the cartoon illustrations utilize subdued tones and are slightly monotonous in perspective and composition. The juxtaposition of the anthropomorphized pachyderms with people standing near them, riding on them, and laying next to them is somewhat incongruous. Still, libraries with a need for informational books for the very youngest patrons may find this one useful.
Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha's Public Library, WI
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0805064427
• ISBN 13: 9780805064421
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 40
• Illustrator: Gutierrez Akemi