I picked this book up in the neighborhood little free library. It's very good. Cute illustrations and the friendship between the boy and his elephant is very sweet. They get rejected from a club that only accepts normal pets, so they start their own club with other misfits. In the end, they welcome everyone, including any of the people who rejected them in the first place.

One oddity I noticed in the illustrations is that when the girl with the giraffe is walking with the group, the giraffe is about the size of a human, but later when they're all playing at the treehouse, the giraffe is tall and can reach the upper part of the tree with its neck. Magic height-changing giraffe. ( )

Independent reading level grade 1
Awards
Georgia Children's Book Award (Finalist 2019)
Utah Beehive Book Award (Nominee 2018)
Kids' Book Choice Awards (Finalist 2016)
Colorado Children's Book Award (Nominee 2018)
Charlotte Huck Award (Honor 2016)

Notable Lists
CCBC Choices (2016)
The Best Children's Books of the Year (2016)
Kansas NEA Reading Circle Recommended Book ( 2016)
Picture This Recommendation List (2017)

A boy has a pet elephant then is not invited to a pet club. So children with exotic pets create an all-is-welcome club for all pets and friends.

1. I would recommend this book to younger elementary students.
2. In this book a little boy goes to a pet fair with his pet elephant. He talks about how he would pick up the elephant because he was afraid of certain things because that's what friends do. Eventually they get to the pet fair and they see a sign that says that no elephants allowed. So then he gets all sad until he finds someone that has a pet skunk and her pet wasn't allowed either. Then they eventually start their own club that becomes popular that includes all pets.
3. I would highly recommend this book in the classroom and definitely will have this in my future classroom. ( )

Strictly No Elephants is a great story about inclusivity and creating a welcoming community. The main characters in this story are a boy and his elephant. The boy takes his elephant to a pet club, but when they arrive they find out that elephants are not allowed in. Later the boy and his elephant run into a girl and her skunk. They were also excluded from the pet club. They work together to create a club that is inclusive towards every animal. This story focuses on the importance of friendship and inclusion. This story can be used to talk about how actions can affect the people around us in negative and positive ways. ( )

Sweetly inclusive tale about the best parts of friendship. The illustrations are adorable, and the quiet tone is just right. ( )

Darling illustrations. ( )

A cute simple story with a message about creating welcoming places for everyone. It doesn't go into detail but has sweet statements like "That's what friends do: brave the scary things for you" and "I always go back and help him over. That's what friends do: lift each other over the cracks". What happens when your friends are excluded, make a better place that includes everyone. A good read aloud to talk about friendship and acceptance for the younger crowd Preschool-K.

This is a great book for young readers! It is smart, funny and an easy read. It's overall theme is inclusion and helping others, and promotes friendship and acceptance.

When the local pet club won't let the protagonist in with his pet elephant, he has to use problem solving and imagination to make it in. In the end, the reader is left with a belief in the power of friendship and the joy of pet ownership.

When a little boy and his elephant go to join the local pet club, they are met with a sign that says "Strictly No Elephants". They decide to start their own club where all animals and people are allowed. This story conveys the message of inclusion and acceptance and advocates for the importance of standing up for oneself. This book would be great to share in a classroom of young children and opens the discussion for those who have felt excluded and the importance of acceptance in friendship. ( )

This book is a very strong book when it comes to the message of inclusion. However, the twist on using animals instead of people will allow children to not feel like they are being _targeted or that the book is about them. The main character is a small elephant who is not allowed with the other animals. However, the elephant and the small boy work together to build their own club which allows everyone therefore no animal is being left out. This book is great for young elementary students when it comes to talking about the importance of inclusion, problem-solution, and friendship. This book can also be used to talk about how words affect other people and how students can be welcoming of everyone within their own classroom. ( )

This book was adorable! I would read it to my kids and stress the importance of being different and making new friends.

One of my favorite books I’ve read ever. This book is all about inclusivity, advocating for oneself, and what it means to be welcome. The elephant was capable of turning the problem into a solution by using a different perspective and taking action. Strictly no Elephants could teach many different lessons like main ideas, introduction, rising action, climax, and kindness. The events in the story are clear and follow smoothly in sequence making it clear to follow the plot line. I would say this is a perfect early childhood book to do a read aloud with the class.

I really really liked this book, I gave this book a 5 star rating because this book does a great job of explaining inclusion through animals, so students can relate to the characters. The main character in the book is a small elephant and he is excluded from a club when he walked up and the sign said "Strictly No Elephants." He didn't understand why and there was no good reason for him to be excluded so he was sad at first but instead, created a new club and changed the sign to say that "All Are Welcome". This book is great for all elementary aged students, for younger readers, this book can be read to them and they can discuss the feelings of the elephant through the story, older elementary aged students can make connections to their own lives and how they can be more welcoming within the classroom environment. This book also does a great job of excluding gender so all students can feel represented by the main character. ( )

A little boy and his small, shy pet elephant are excited for Pet Club Day, but when they arrive, they're turned away: Strictly No Elephants. Saddened, the boy and his elephant leave, and they find a little girl and her pet skunk ("He doesn't stink") sitting on a bench. The two of them decide to start their own club where "All Are Welcome," and they fix up a treehouse in a park.

The text tells the story on its own, but the illustrations (linoleum block prints, pencil, Photoshop) do some heavy lifting too, really co-creating the story: the way that the boy supports the elephant when she is sad, and vice versa; the kids' and pets' eagerness to form their own club where all are welcome; the various outlandish types of pets that other kids show up with (armadillo, penguin, hedgehog, giraffe, even a tiny narwhal in a fishbowl).

A lovely story about how to take a disappointing experience of being excluded and turn it into a chance to make everyone feel included.

*

Re-read September/October 2020 ( )

This is a great book about friendship and acceptance. In the story, a little boy tries to take his elephant to Pet Club Day only to find out that elephants are not welcome. Its decided that they will just create a club of their own where all are welcome and what it means to be a friend.

A boy and his pet elephant try to join a pet club but are not allowed on account of the elephant is a "strange" pet. The boy meets up with other kids who have different pets and they form a new pet club, one where any pet s allowed. The story teachers friendship and tolerance for those who may be different than you. ( )

This was one of my all time favorite books. The message behind this book teaches children a valuable lesson of friendship and acceptance. The main character takes his tiny pet elephant to the pet club where they don't allow elephants. They run into another character whose pet is also not allowed in this club. From there they decide to create their own all inclusive club. which is inviting to anyone. The illustrations are very colorful and vibrant which is appealing to the eye. Readers can easily follow along with the story. This is a great book to share with a younger group of students it teaches them the valuable lesson to be accepting of everyone. We all are different and that's what makes us special. ( )

Strictly No Elephants is one of my favorite books, it is about friendship, advocacy and accepting others. In the book, the main character and his pet, an elephant, are turned away from a pet club because elephants are different. The main character creates his own pet club and invites all of the other pets that were turned away from pet club and they end up having a fun and inclusive group that anyone is welcomed to join. The text does not have a lot of words, the story is largely told by the beautiful and colorful illustrations. This book is important to me because it helps to show kids that being different is okay, but that also accepting others that are different is easy and ends up being a lot of fun. ( )

Summary:
Strictly No Elephants is about a boy whose pet is an elephant. He tries to take his elephant to a pet club but when the sign says no elephants allowed, the boy and his elephant head home. They meet a girl and her pet skunk, who no one at the pet club want to play with and they decide to open their own pet club where every animal is welcome.
Personal Reaction:
This story is very cute but also gives a great message to the younger kids. It should that there should always be welcoming arms for everyone no matter how different they are. By using the animals, the author is allowing for the students to see an important message by relating it to a topic they are more familiar with.

Exercises:

Classes could go to a zoo or refuge where they see the animals having a place of belonging.

The students could make their own rules for their classroom for making everyone feel welcome. ( )

Strictly No Elephants is a wonderful book. I enjoyed this book because it gives readers insight into what it means to be accepting of everyone. I enjoyed the plot specifically. A young boy wants to take his elephant to a pet club but the sign reads ‘No Elephants allowed.’ The young boy meets a girl with a pet skunk and they all end up having their own pet club, allowing all pets to join. It is an interesting plot as this shows the sad reality of discrimination. Although this is a fantasy genre, due to animals having human characteristics, it is very realistic in some ways, that anyone can be discriminated against. I also loved this book because of the character of the young boy. He is very encouraging as he works with the young girl to start their own pet club. I think that the overall message of this book is very important for readers off all ages- inclusion and acceptance of all. It is a fantastic read! ( )

I really liked this fun, uplifting book. I liked this book because of the characters. I liked how the main character was a positive young boy who describe his great friendship with his elephant, providing examples of what friends do for each other, almost like little take-away from the book, inspirational quotes. Not only that, when the place having the pet club day didn’t allow his elephant, he didn’t go off on a rant or get mad or act out of anger; he simple brushed it over his should shoulder saying that they don’t need them and that they could have their own events. I even liked how the little girls with her unusual pet also remain positive and was intrigues to start a new thing with the main character and others to join. I also liked how the writing flowed with the illustrations, how it was paced well for the reading level, and how was simple and not overdone to distract you from the message or the illustrations. Overall, I liked how the story expressed that you don’t have to fit in and that it’s ok to be different. There are going to be times and situations that don’t allow you to fit in with the norm, like the young boy and his elephant. They not only stood out, but they made a way for others in their situation to feel welcomed and accepted when they weren’t by others. It also taught the power of friendship. The young boy stood by his elephant’s side both when he was happy and when he felt down.

This book was really good. The theme is to always include everyone, no matter what. One of the things that I really liked about this book was the diversity of the characters and their animals. The main character had an elephant for a pet, another little girl had a skunk for a pet people had squirrels and narwhals for pets. It wasn't just cats and dogs as pets. While cats and dogs as pets may be more realistic. the various animals could have been relatable to kids whose favorite animal is, say, an elephant. While dogs and cats are more common, zoo animals are more fun and diverse. The plot was very interesting to me, and part of why I really enjoyed reading this book. It was organized and modern, even with the unusual pets. The little boy is not allowed in the club with everyone else, but then he meets a little girl and her skunk who were also not allowed in the club. They decide to make their own club, and they end up putting a sign out that says "Everyone invited, no matter what." I think that the little plot twist is very important. It would have been relevant if the children had put up a sign saying "strictly no cats and dogs," not including those who had snubbed them earlier. However, it is more important to realize that it is better to take the high road; they knew how it felt to be excluded from a club, and they didn't want to do that to anyone else (even if they were mean). ( )

A boy creates understanding through him not being allowed to bring his pet elephant to Pet Club.

Awww. A little boy with a pet elephant finds he and his pet are not wanted, because he's so unusual. He ends up finding other kids with unusual pets and they all form a club where everyone is welcome! It's a great metaphor, of course. But it's also such a sweet story. The little boy and his elephant are able to be who they are, but they're also challenge to be more for their friend. Awww. And the art is so vibrant and sweet, you just can't help but love them.

I don't know what I liked better--the slightly OCD tiny elephant, the the narwhal in a fish bowl, or the hedgehog in little red boots. OMG so adorable! ( )