cover image Elephantastic!

Elephantastic!

Michael Engler, trans. from the German by Ann Garlid, illus. by Joëlle Tourlonias. Peter Pauper (www.peterpauper.com), $16.99 (32p) ISBN 978-1-4413-0841-2

Andrew opens a package in his front hallway and finds Timbo, a stuffed baby elephant who enthralls him with tales of “savannahs and deserts so huge that only elephants could cross them, of jungles so dark and deep that only elephants dared to venture into them.” After a marvelous morning of make-believe (despite a couple of questionable African clichés from Engler, like the moment Andrew and Timbo perform “a lively rain dance”), Andrew’s mother explains that the package was actually meant for his friend Louise and brings a crestfallen Andrew upstairs to deliver it. Fortunately, Timbo doesn’t let his friendship with Andrew go so lightly. Tourlonias’s sunny spreads flow easily in and out of reality, as when the “dense dark jungle” is revealed to be the space beneath Andrew’s bed. Andrew’s emotional ups and downs are skillfully conveyed, too, as he sprawls in happy exhaustion across a tree limb, hangs his head as Louise takes possession of Timbo, then brightens when she brings him back downstairs: “Timbo says he misses you.” Sharing would be easier if toys could talk, readers may conclude. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)