Strictly No Elephants

(Hardback)

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Description

A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale. The New York Times Book Review
Sweet and affirming. Kirkus Reviews
With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story.School Library Journal
Heartening.Booklist

In this bestselling and internationally beloved picture book, the local Pet Club wont admit a boys tiny pet elephant, so he finds a solutionone that involves all kinds of unusual animals.

Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesnt understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend.

Strictly No Elephants has been sold around the world and is heralded as a pitch-perfect book about inclusion. Imaginative and lyrical, this sweet story captures the magic of friendship and the joy of having a pet.

Reviews

After a little boy and his tiny elephant are barred from the Pet Club, they befriend other children with unusual pets.

The first-person narrative has a quiet, contemplative feel: The trouble with having a tiny elephant for a pet is that you never quite fit in. / No one else has an elephant. His pet is shy of sidewalk cracks: I always go back and help him over. Thats what friends do: lift each other over the cracks. Embodying dejection after the two turn from that large, titular sign on the door, a double-page spreada Photoshop-augmented linoleum block printdepicts a dark teal cityscape slashed with raindrops and bobbing with black umbrellas. The Caucasian boy, his pet (in matching red scarves), and a little African-American girl in cornrows and a red-and-orange striped dress are the bright spots in this poignant tableau. Turns out that this girla pet skunk curled on her laphas been turned away too. He doesnt stink, she says. No, he doesnt, concurs the boy and then suggests, What if we start our own club Observant children will spot a porcupine, penguin, and giraffe peering from brownstone windows along the way; they and their children join others with equally exotic pets. Yoos concluding scenes depict a treehouse occupation (its restrictive message changed to ALL ARE WELCOME) and multiethnic, multispecies harmony.

Sweet and affirming. -- Kirkus * August 15, 2015 *
Having a tiny elephant for a pet sounds idyllic, but a boy discovers that the local Pet Club doesnt allow them; a stern girl points at a Strictly No Elephants sign. Heading home in the rain, the boy and his elephant spot a girl with her skunk. They dont want us to play with them either, she says. Joined by other owners of unexpected petsgiraffes, armadillos, even a small narwhal in a bowlthey make their own club with its own sign: All Are Welcome. In her first picture book, Mantchev (Ticker) examines true friendship, sprinkling observations about the behavior of boy and elephant throughout (He doesnt like the cracks in the sidewalk much. I always go back and help him over) and punctuating them with the refrain, Because thats what friends do. Yoos (Hands Say Love) linoleum block prints of brick buildings and quiet sidewalks have the softness and warmth of a favorite blanket. Its a message book about exclusion with an oh-so-gentle lead-in for discussion. -- Publishers Weekly * July 20, 2015 *
Its Pet Club Day, and the sign on the door at #17 clearly states, Strictly NO Elephants. Current members treasure their birds, fish, cats, and dogs, but a young boy taking a walk with his tiny elephant, sharing an umbrella in a cool fall rain, sees no welcome for his friend, so he simply gives his usual support. Thats what friends dolift each other over the cracksbrave the scary things for you. The boy and his elephant meet a girl with a skunk, who were also excluded from the Pet Club meeting, and decide to start a club of their own, one in which all are welcome. Friends never leave anyone behind. Illustrations emphasize the warmth of this message with Photoshop, block prints, and pencil in color spreads alternated with smaller vignettes highlighting the expressions of the children and their pets. VERDICT With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story. A solid general purchase for libraries and classrooms. * School Library Journal *
The trouble with having a tiny elephant for a pet is that you never quite fit in, says a little boy with a tiny pet elephant. The Pet Club wont let him in, and an angry signStrictly No Elephantsexplains why. Forlorn, the boy and little elephant stumble on, the boys warm-toned shirt popping against the background of people in dark blues, blacks, and teal. They find another outcast, a little girl with a skunk, and they decide to start their own club. Soon, owners with other unusual pets join them: a girl with a giraffe, a boy with a hedgehog, even a kid with a tiny narwhal in a glass bowl! Eagle-eyed little ones will notice new friends before they make their way to the pet parade. Though the story is slight, the clear message of inclusion is a good one, and the cheerful, lightly mottled block-print illustrations, with bright outlines and in a rich palette, exude lively motion among the children and their pets. Heartening, particularly for kids who often feel left out. -- Booklist * October 1, 2015 *
A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale by Lisa Mantchev. . . . How nice . . . to imagine such a peacable kingdom in our midst, especially as depicted in Taeeun Yoo's intimate, warmly rounded and colored mixed-media illustrations--a richly textured meld of drawing and linocut art finished off in the Photoshop blender. -- The New York Times Book Review * January 17, 2016 *

Author Bio

Lisa Mantchev is the author of many picture books, including the internationally acclaimedStrictly No Elephants and The Trouble with Giraffes, both illustrated by Taeeun Yoo;Remarkables, illustrated by David Litchfield; andSomeday, Narwhal, illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Lisa lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Learn more at LisaMantchev.com.

Taeeun Yoo has twice received the prestigiousNew York TimesBest Illustrated Childrens Book Award. She has illustrated many books, includingStrictly No Elephantsby Lisa Mantchev, which has been published in fourteen countries.The New York Timescalled it a sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale. She is also the illustrator ofKitten and the Night Watchmanby John Sullivan, which received five starred reviews and was named a best book of the year by many publications. Her other books includeSo Many DaysandOnly a Witch Can Fly, both by Alison McGhee, andRoundby Joyce Sidman. Taeeun was also the recipient of the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Society of Illustrators Founders Award. She lives in South Korea with her family.