Patricia Thomas (1)

Text almost as simple as a 'Bob Book" but it's actually, according to the interesting author's note, a chiasmus poem. (So this could be used as a mentor text, too.) Illustrations straightforward but fun. Font large enough to use in circle time.

The only thing I had a problem with is the first couplet: "Sad lad. Sad dad." I'm wondering what they're sad about, and I'm sure that the child readers, who are at this developmental age actively exploring the concepts of different emotions, are also wondering that. (Best that I can figure things out, they're just melancholy because it's winter and they're bored... but since there are no images of a mother, maybe she's away or even dead and they are actually very sad.)… (more)

Oh my goodness. So funny, I truly did laugh out loud. The pictures are funny enough for toddlers to enjoy, the rollicking rhyme will encourage an independent reader to read this over and over, the pictures of the animals reacting to the elephant's announcement are vividly both true to the animals and true to the humor, there are a lot of different animals to meet, and the two-part ending packs a punch neither to be expected nor soon-forgotten.

As you can see by reading this review, I'm still breathless & giddy. I will read it again before I return it to the library and keep it on my to-read-again list for later, too. And I will try to find more by author and illustrator (though it's an older book, and maybe their other stuff is gone). Do try to get this from your library before it's culled!
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I would love to read this aloud to a little. Or, even better, hear an 8 read it to a 5. All those juicy words, arranged in fun rhymes and a joyous rhythm!

So, what's even worse than an elephant's sneeze, that phenomon which blows the stripes off the zebra and the scales off the fish?… (more)