Elephant

by Petr Horáček

A young boy spends his day playing games with his imaginary friend, the Elephant. Real or not, when Grandma and Grandpa are busy, the Elephant proves to be the perfect playmate.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Family, Childrens, Friendship, Plays

40 pages, Paperback

First published November 10, 2009

About the author

Petr Horáček is the author-illustrator of Look Out, Suzy Goose and Silly Suzy Goose, as well as Run, Mouse, Run!; Bird, Fly High; A New House for Mouse; and Strawberries Are Red. He lives in England.

Reviews

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grandma and Grandpa are too busy to play, and they don't buy into their grandson's explanations when things start happening - "It was my elephant.... It must have been my elephant." Eventually, though, after a long day of play with his imaginary (?) new friend, Grandpa admits that the tired little boy wakes up in his bed because "your elephant carried you to bed." I especially loved the strokes of gray, scribbling almost, that color the elephant; this effect makes him seem more childlike than the surrounding illustrations, more the product of the boy's imagination than "reality." Simply told but effective and very sweet.

[Fiona Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful book about having an imaginary friend. The kid like colouring in of the elephant was very clever. It made him stand out as the only part of the story that wasn’t real.

[Fatima · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a friendship between a little boy and an elephant. One day a little boy wants to play football, he asks his grandad but he is too busy to play with him and he then asks his grandma but she too is too busy to play with him. So he asks his elephant to play with him instead. The elephant and the little boy play football in the garden creating a big mess ruining grandads’ flowerbed. The little boy tells grandad it was the elephant that made the mess, but grandad doesn’t believe the little boy. The little boy and the elephant then go inside to play. The elephant creates a big mess in the house and eats grandmas’ cake. The little boy tells grandma it was the elephant that made the mess, grandma doesn’t believe the little boy. The little boy is sad that no one believes him. So he goes to his room. The elephant appears in his room and cheers him up they go on an adventure. The little boy and the elephant have so much fun. They go fishing and go to the jungle to see tigers….Than the little boy wakes up. Was it a dream? Was the elephant real? Or was the elephant just an imaginary friend.
This book is written by Petr Horacek and was published in 2009 by Walkers Books ltd. This story is a beautiful tale about friends and the need of bonding with one another. The elephant in the story is an imaginary elephant, this is great for encouraging children to use their imagination. Throughout the story I was wondering whether the elephant was real or the childs imagination.
One of the things I liked about the book is that it has lovely pictures to capture the attention of the readers especially the young readers. The story is written in huge fonts suitable for young readers to read by themselves. This book can be used in key stage 1 classes to have on their bookshelf for independent reading and it can also be read aloud to 3-5 years old. It is a fantastic story to encourage children’s imagination and some children can relate with the little boy in the story.

[Ella · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice story about a little boy and his imaginary elephant, his grandparents don't believe him to begin with but they soon open their eyes to his vivid imagination. The elephant isn't explicitly imaginative so this could be explored with young children. A nice read-aloud story for FS and year 1 children.

[Albana Bregu · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a book that talks about the power of an imaginary friend that links to experiences of many children that use their imagination to overcome solitariness and to pass the time.
The images reinforce the meaning of the text; some sentences are repeated through the book to help early readers and images can help to talk about feelings that boy is having while they flip through the pages.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always I love, Pete Horacek big bold colorful illustrations and this one is no exception and indeed the elephant is large in this title. The young boy is disappointed his grandparents don’t have time to play and be with him. So his imaginary elephant materializes and “they” play without regard for grandpa and grandma’s home. But all is well the next morning after a night’s sleep.

[Monique · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful story, perfect for my storytime group. The illustrations and fun tale about a boy and his imaginary elephant (or IS he imaginary? ;-) ) was a delight for parents and children alike. Highly recommend.

[Carlos Ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un llibre divertit i original sense més.

La situació i el que explica no és excesivament original, ni d'alta qualitat literària, però pot ser un bon fons d'armari per a una biblioteca escolar a primària.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little boy gets in trouble for all the messes his imaginary elephant makes.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple story every kid can relate to. I like the illustrations.

[Kay Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Art wood - good, colourful, large.
Imagination of little boy with his imaginary elephant.

[Baylee Reagin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the imaginary elephant, wish it was a little more upbeat (less focus on unhappy grandparents) but it ends positively!

[Fromsouth 8 · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://vendi13.blogspot.com/2022/06/r...

[Terresa Wellborn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Themes: elephants
Ages: toddler-K
Pub year: 2009

[Big Book Little Book · Rating 5 out of 5]

Helen for www.bigbooklittlebook.com
Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.

We enjoyed this book, in particular trying to guess whether or not the elephant was real or imagined, the children vacillated back and forth over this for a while!

The story is about a boy who has no one to play with so he plays with his elephant. Unfortunately they get into a few scrapes, and the boy always tells everyone it wasn’t his fault, it was his elephant that did it. The adult involved never seems to believe the boy that it was the elephant’s fault. The boy is sad and spends some time alone, but when his elephant comes to see him there is an unexpected and lovely moment when the boy says sorry to the elephant for telling tales about him. The boy and the elephant go into the boy’s bedroom and have wonderful adventures until the boy wakes up the next morning and wonders how he got to bed. His Grandpa comes in and tells him, his elephant put him there.

It’s so clever and so simple. The imaginary and the real are often blurred for children and they related to this really well. The whole concept is carried off with finesse by Petr. The pictures of the elephant accidently making a mess compliment it all beautifully.

A stunning book for children.

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

One read-headed boy occupies his time at his grandparents by playing with his elephant. It’s not his fault that the elephant messed up the flower bed and the hallway, splashed water all over the bathroom floor, knocked over the orange juice and ate all the cupcakes. It's slightly abstract because the elephant is never truly identified as imaginary, so some kids may be confused by the grandparents inability to recognize, but the child's travels to a jungle near the end should clue them in that something out of the ordinary is happening. Regardless of how imaginary the elephant might be, it's a truth commonly ignored that not every visit to the grandparents goes off without a hitch. I love that the elephant is drawn in scribbled crayon, make his imaginary state all the more obvious alongside the more solidly colored (painted/collaged?) characters and setting.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a little boy and his imaginary elephant, who gets into all sorts of trouble around the house--spilling orange juice, making puddles in the bathtub, and eventually getting the boy into trouble with his grandparents. It's very cute, if a little staid. I read it as the lead book for an elephant storytime and the children seemed to enjoy it, although I wouldn't call it a crowd-pleaser as much as some others.

Ages 3-5

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was another book that my nephew randomly pulled off the library shelf today. It was pretty cute, and I think that he sort of identified with the little boy in the story who wanted a "too busy" grown-up to play with him. Nice imagination story, and a nice celebration of how creative kids can be in their play. It's also a nice reminder for grown-ups that, mmm, maybe sometimes you can find time to be a little less "too busy."

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to do when Grandpa and Grandma are too busy to play? Ask the elephant, of course! he's loads of fun, even if he squashes the flower bed and breaks a few things around the house. Grandpa and Grandma will understand-- really. In an intergenerational story that is both funny and sweet, Petr Horáček illuminates the power of one boy's boundless imagination -- and how truly infectious it can be!

[Tim Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's an elephant in the room. That's what people say when they are skirting an issue. "No-one wants to address the elephant in the room!" In this case they'd be referring to the rather vivid hallucinations the little boy in this book is suffering from. I think Big Bird had it too. They both had imaginary elephants after all. . .

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read at Family Story Time on 8/8/11: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

Read at drop-in story time on 11/13/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for preschool storytimes. Good intergenerational book about a boy and his grandparents. He wants attention and doesn't get it, so he plays with his elephant instead. He and his elephant make big messes and have great adventures. Eventually, the boy and his grandpa have fun playing ball.

[Carrie Gelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Often for little ones, it seems everyone is too busy for play and fun. This is the case for the boy in this story. Grandma and Grandpa are often occupied but his elephant is never too busy! Elephant and boy get up to all kinds of imaginative antics.

[Renate]

This book celebrates the imagination of a little boy who says he has an elephant and its his elephant that is getting into trouble- not him. Reading this book could spark discussion about imagination or imaginary friends.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I adored the illustrations in this book, but the story didn't do much for me. I would have preferred either a story about grandparents or one about an imaginary elephant. Having both in one tale made it harder for me to engage with it. However, the ending did give me a "Ha!" So there's that.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charmingly drawn, not-as-predictable-as-it-seems story of a boy and his elephant companion.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very, very cute and sweet. This book would be a good fit for multiple storytime themes, including: Grandparents, Elephants (of course), imaginary friends/imagination, pets, just to name a few.

[Dee-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute pictures, but was not sure at the end if there really was an elephant.

[Danica Midlil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The power of imagination at work!

[Mary Trujillo]

elefante