Customer Reviews

June and August

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

 

 

I absolutely love this book about two critters becoming friends against all odds. The artwork is spectacular and the writing is whimsical and creative. My kids get so excited when i pull this book out for story time, and i really think it teaches them valuable social lessons as well as entertains them. if you like this book you should look at more of Vivian Walsh's books such as Olive, the Other Reindeer! Her stories are instant classics with beautiful pictures.

I teach first grade and this book has been a big hit with the kids. I chose it thanks to the great illustrations. The appeal for my kids is the writing. [...].

The story is about an elephant and a snake. The elephant takes a look at the snake and asks,

"Are you all trunk, or all tail?"

"I am all me!" says the snake.

The story goes on to point out that snakes and elephants start and end the same way, but in the middle they are very different.

My kids love this idea. It reminds me of something from "The Little Prince." In that book there is a drawing of a line that has a big bump in the middle. Only the children can tell that it is a drawing of a snake that ate an elephant. The adults think that is ridiculous.

I have long been a fan of Vivian Walsh's books and think Olive the Other Reindeer rivals The Grinch as one of the best holiday books ever. This tale of a snake and an elephant who meet in the night and believe they are the same species is a wonderful, inspirational tale for children of all ages. It's not how you look, it's how you feel that matters.

I love children's books, and I have endless shelves of them. I still have ones from my childhood and I really thought this one was not only a classic, but had a beautiful and important point to make about the joys and challenges of being friends. The author seems to have an intuitive understanding of the magic world of children's friendships, their intensity reality and fragile power. I really like the illustration where each of the other creatures imagine that what they are is what they can see.

I will say that the lovely illustrations really make this book worth looking at. The story told and the moral presented about `not judging a book by its cover' is a good one, I just found the way in which it was all delivered to be kind of...childishly skeletal. I know that really means nothing considering that this is a CHILDREN'S book, and so don't feel compelled to remind me of that (I know, I know) and yet I was still oddly underwhelmed by it all. I loved the opening and I loved the close, yet the center of the book seemed like an afterthought that was underdeveloped. Alas, I love the look of the book, and so I'll keep it around.

Love this book because it has my son's and neice's name in it, June and August. One of the only books I have found with the name August. It has a cute surprise about who the characters are once you are in the story. Great illustrations as well.

This book just really didn't do it for me.

It is the story of a snake and an elephant who meet at nighttime, when they can't see each other, and get along well and have the same interests. The next day, they realize they are very different. They hang out and become friends.

I feel like the plot/storyline is weak, and that the author is trying too hard to get the point across (that differences can be good). There were also parts that seemed a little creepy. Maybe it was the way that the snake thought the elephant looked "stunning" when he was "entwined in vines," and looked at the elephant with a seductive look on his face.

Also, the dialogue is just sort of - strange.

Example:

"GIANT?" "No, I'm not giant. I'm just August. And what are you? Are you all trunk, or all tail?" "I am all me!" "We are very different." "It's mostly in the middle that we're different." "And the feet." "Yesssss - One, two, three, four...da feet."

I will say that the artwork was very interesting to look at. I especially liked the illustrations of the night sky.

Skip this weird book and go for something with more substance like The Scarecrow's Dance or even Horton Hears A Who!.