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. ( )