Customer Reviews

The Elephant Wish

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

From the head writer of Sesame Street comes a debut picture book pairing gorgeous drawings by illustrator Ana Juan with the story of eight-year-old Eliza, who wishes for an elephant to come take her away for her birthday. Two days later an elephant comes down her street and takes her into a magical jungle lost to her parents. What can convince Eliza that it's worth it to return home to her family after such a journey? THE ELEPHANT WISH is a lovely and whimsical original story.

Reading this book to my daughter never gets old for me. I still find new details in the illustrations and am moved by certain phrases after reading it dozens of times. I first read this to my daughter just before she turned two. I thought it might be a bit much at that point and that she would get bored, but she was mesmerized. She was probably initially drawn in by the pics but has a growing love and understanding of the story now too. I wish Lou Berger and Ana Juan would collaborate again!

The Elephant wish is a beautiful story of an 8 year old's wish to be carried away - literally by an elephant. It is an allegory for living life rather than stepping away from it and appeals to me as much as my children. The prose is magical and has lulling rhythm that has gently helped my little ones off to sleep. The pictures are likewise enchanting. I recommend this book for those who savor reading beautiful children's literature.

I chose this book for my 3 y.o. son based on the fantastic illustrations. The story itself, I found rather wordy and hard for him to follow. The ideas in this book just did not connect very well. It lacked the flowing quality that one would hope for to accompany the beautifully, lush and whimsical pictures. The pictures engaged him quite well, but he didn't show much interest for the actual story.

This book was on my granddaughters' Amazon wish list for Christmas. They had their Mom reading it to them beside the tree before the rest of their presents were opened. It was a big hit.

I picked this up for the incomparable Ana Juan's (Frida) lush, dreamlike artwork, but was delightedly bewitched with Lou Berger's text, which mirrors the art in it's dreaminess and recall to the way a young child seem the world, and what they fantasize about. A wonderful total package. We own an insane number of childrens books, and this is in my top 10.