From Publishers Weekly
Talk about outdoing Mary and her little lamb. In the same vein as Johnson and Carter's Never Babysit the Hippopotamuses!, this zany title treats pet elephants as perfectly ordinary. A list of elephantine at-school behaviors is accompanied by images of a tusker wreaking classroom havoc ("He will trumpet quite loudly while looking for you. This could scare some of the children"). Students should "never open a bag of peanuts, even across the room from him," but they might let the elephant participate in spelling bees because "an elephant never forgets!" Johnson pursues his idea perhaps too exhaustively; he doesn't leave much room for readers to imagine their own elephant-instigated disasters. Carter (Summer Legs) creates a genial watercolor elephant whose trunk and limbs look as malleable as wet gray clay; as it strolls along, wobbly, distorted settings suggest its thudding footsteps. Gigglesome extras include the student pachyderm's pink polka-dot trousers, the skewed views of the frequently distressed teacher and assorted classroom chaos. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2?A humorous tale about a little girl who rides her elephant to school, thus creating a series of amusing mishaps. When the animal becomes lost and trumpets loudly, for example, the noise scares the students and causes the teacher to faint. And if the teacher faints, what else is there to do but revive her? And what better way to do so than to have the elephant squirt her with water. The ink-and-watercolor illustrations are both comical and colorful, complementing the text well. Carter follows Johnson's humorous cues, creating pictures that are hilariously eye-catching. Done in the same light, cautionary vein as Laura Numeroff's If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (1985) and If You Give a Moose a Muffin (1991, both HarperCollins), Johnson and Carter's advice is sure to prompt smiles in story hours.?Lisa Marie Gangemi, Sousa Elementary School, Port Washington, NY
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
