Come Back Soon [Hardcover]

Daniel Schallau (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 7, 2009 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

It’s a long way from Elephant Island to Icetown,
but good friends will travel great distances to visit one another.
And so Elephant leaves home to see his penguin penpals—
Elephant has helped them build a hotel, and there will be a party
in his honor.

In Icetown, things don’t go as planned.
In fact, they don’t go smoothly at all.

But just like friends will travel far across the sea to be with one another,
good friends will also always help to make things right.

A story of friendship, a story of travel and global community, Come Back Soon will cheer anyone who has ever made a mistake and been forgiven.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2—Elephant is off to visit his friends, the penguins, in Icetown. He had helped them build a hotel several months earlier, and they now wish to honor him at its dedication. Unfortunately, in his haste to pick up his custom-made suit, his rented snowball—the means of transportation in Icetown—careens out of control and smashes the hotel. Elephant and his penguin pals cheerfully rebuild, and at last the dedication is held. The story is rather long and the action minimal, but the Arthur Geisert-like pen-and-ink and colored-pencil illustrations have more to offer. They are replete with numerous tiny details that children are likely to pore over, making the book more suitable as a read-alone or for one-on-one sharing. An additional purchase.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ END

Review

"This busily surreal tale will make readers feel as though they’ve walked in on the middle of a conversation . . . Both the ingenuous present-tense narration and the intricate, architecturally inspired black-lined drawings will bring to mind as well that famous French elephant who also buys a suit."--Kirkus Reviews

"The general level of civility recalls the world of Babar, but the elaborate yet always readable spreads are distinctly Schallau's own."--Publishers Weekly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Books for Children; None edition (September 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618694943
• ISBN-13: 978-0618694945
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,099 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Daniel Schallau (1966- present) was born in Portland, Oregon, with a pencil in his hand. From a young age, he would lose himself in his doodles--once even missing a magnitude 5.0 earthquake because he was so busy drawing in the margins of the church program! His mother regularly carried pencil and paper in her purse, which he constantly asked to use. Despite this, he didn't start developing a drawing style of his own unil he was in College.

After working for various architecture firms in Portland, Daniel traveled far to the east-all the way to Tokyo, Japan where he now works as an English teacher and an Illustrator. He fancies himself an "imaginary architect" and designs fantastic cities and buildings for animals to live and work and play in, just like his character, Mr. Elephant does.

And just like Mr. Elephant, Daniel sometimes feels a bit clumsy and big and forgetful...Fortunately, he always feels at home with his wife and two young children.

"In the summer of 2002, when I moved from the U.S. to Tokyo, my friends back in America encouraged me to keep a journal of my experiences while living abroad. I wrote this children's book instead. At first glance, Icetown, in my book, Come Back Soon is much like the bustling, hugely populated Tokyo I moved to. Mr. Elephant is me. I have a degree in Architecture and Mr. Elephant is an Architect. And just like myself, Mr. Elephant is larger than most of the inhabitants of Icetown and has trouble buying a suit that fits him. When I first moved to Japan, I went and bought a suit, but the sleeves of the dress shirt I tried on came half way up my arms. I made mistake after mistake when but the Japanese around me were ever forgiving, just as the Penguins are to Mr. Elephant in my book, Come Back Soon."

See more about Daniel and his book at: www.danielschallau.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book that my kid requests just about every night, September 29, 2009

By 

B. Roberson "Roberson Photo" (Portland, Oregon, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Come Back Soon (Hardcover)

I have Shallau's first book "The Traveler" and while that book is a bit mature for my toddler, this new book is an instant hit. A fun story and as usual, incredible artwork. The drawings are much more kinetic that those in The Traveler (those drawing are much more detailed and sublime) and my boy (age 2) loves to make up stories about what all the many penguins are doing in the ice city. It takes us forever to actually get all the way THROUGH the book but it is worth it too see my kid's imagination pushed into overdrive by the artwork. He says he dreams about penguins all the time now. I'm OK with that.

I actually bought The Traveler for myself before I had kids just for the incredible artwork. This book is more accessible for little kids but still fun for adults as well. It's not the usual dumbed-down story with simple drawings. It's the book my boy asks for pretty much every night now, and we've only had it for about two weeks.

Highly recommended!!