The Obvious Elephant - Hardcover

Robinson, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1582347697 ISBN 13: 9781582347691

Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens, 2002

Synopsis

An elephant wanders into a village-announced and unexpected-but no one has seen an elephant before! The villagers attempt to identify this visitor and finally rely upon a professor who runs tests and experiments to determine what Eric, a clever little boy, has been saying all along is true: indeed it is an elephant!

About this title

Review:

British duo Bruce Robinson and Sophie Windham (writer-husband and illustrator-wife, respectively) team up here to poke and prod at an out-of-nowhere elephant, a poor old pachyderm who doesn't even know what he is.

But then again, neither does anyone else in the town: "One day the people awoke to find an Elephant sitting bewildered in the main square, mopping his brow with a red spotted handkerchief and wondering how he got there." But a boy named Eric, "who was seven and three-quarters and known for telling Tall Stories"--does know what this creature is, but no one seems to be listening. Everyone in town ends up guessing at the identity and function of this strange beast--the Train Driver connects him to a train, the Fireman uses him to fight a fire, the Garbage Collector sends him out to vacuum garbage until the Elephant nearly bursts. But in the end Eric prevails, with the help of the scatterbrained Professor. ("'But what does it do?' they asked. 'It does nothing!' cried Eric. 'It simply is an elephant.' 'Yes, of the long-nosed variety,' added the Professor.")

Kids will find Robinson's building, repetitive structure fun to follow, but it's the details from Windham (Unicorns! Unicorns!) that carry the day in this silly story. From the Professor's chalk scribblings to a dozen-odd throwaway animal cameos (like three cute bears climbing over the moon and a fire-watching pelican), every illustration deserves a long linger. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes

About the Author:

Bruce Robinson is an Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of "The Killing Fields" and starred in the 1998 film "Still Crazy". He wrote and directed the black comedy cult classic "Withnail and I". He is married to illustrator Sophie Windham.

Sophie Windham is the illustrator of Unicorns, Unicorns and The Mermaid and Other Sea Poems. Sophie and author Bruce Robinson are married and live in London, England.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Childrens
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1582347697
• ISBN 13: 9781582347691
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Windham Sophie