Staff Picks Books

Horton Hears A Who!

Dr. Seuss

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Random House Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 57 new & used starting at $2.94

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Animals -> Elephants -> Fiction

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Surely among the most lovable of all Dr. Seuss creations, Horton the Elephant represents kindness, trustworthiness, and perseverance--all wrapped up, thank goodness, in a comical and even absurd package. Horton hears a cry for help from a speck of dust, and spends much of the book trying to protect the infinitesimal creatures who live on it from the derision and trickery of other animals, who think their elephant friend has gone quite nutty. But worse is in store: an eagle carries away the clover in which Horton has placed the life-bearing speck, and "let that small clover drop somewhere inside / of a great patch of clovers a hundred miles wide!" Horton wins in the end, after persuading the "Who's" to make as much noise as possible and prove their existence. This classic is not only fun, but a great way to introduce thoughtful children to essentially philosophical questions. How, after all, are we so sure there aren't invisible civilizations floating by on every mote? (Ages 4 to 8) --Richard Farr

Horton Hatches the Egg (Classic Seuss)

Dr. Seuss

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Random House Books for Young Readers Amazon Marketplace: 145 new & used starting at $0.86

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 48 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Horton the Hero 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

Horton never gives up, this is a classic book of perseverance and doing the right thing at all costs. Brilliant and well-written for the reader of all ages!

Editorial Review:

Poor Horton. Dr. Seuss's kindly elephant is persuaded to sit on an egg while its mother, the good-for-nothing bird lazy Maysie, takes a break. Little does Horton know that Maysie is setting off for a permanent vacation in Palm Springs. He waits, and waits, never leaving his precarious branch, even through a freezing winter and a spring that's punctuated by the insults of his friends. ("They taunted. They teased him. They yelled 'How Absurd! Old Horton the Elephant thinks he's a bird!'") Further indignities await, but Horton has the patience of Job--from whose story this one clearly derives--and he is rewarded in the end by the surprise birth of... an elephant-bird. Horton Hatches the Egg contains some of Theodor Geisel's most inspired verse and some of his best-ever illustrations, the dated style of which only accentuates their power and charm. A book no childhood should be without. (Ages 2 to 7) --Richard Farr

Just a Little Bit

Ann Tompert

Amazon Price: $13.26 List Price: $17.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Houghton Mifflin/Walter Lorraine Books Amazon Marketplace: 39 new & used starting at $0.49

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Every Little Bit Helps! 4 out of 5 stars.
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.

Elephant, Mouse, and all their friends work together and have fun. "Just a Little Bit" is a sweet story about friendship and teaches us all a great lesson. As it was inscribed to me by my friend, "Keep this book on hand to remind you at times when you may be tempted to give up on something, that it may just be that next little bit of effort, that little extra push that makes a world of difference." This book made me smile and I loved the illustrations too!

Editorial Review:

When an elephant and a mouse try to play on a seesaw, they need help from a vast number of animal friends to balance the scales.

17 Kings And 42 Elephants (Pied Piper Paperback)

Margaret Mahy

List Price: $6.99 By: Puffin Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $1.42

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

A poem in words and pictures 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 10 people found this review helpful.

This narrative was perhaps the first poem my children learned--and both they and I love it.

"Seventeen kings and fourty-two elephants

Going on a journey on a wild wet night"

meet all sorts of wonderful creatures in their travels through the lush jungle inhabitting these pages. There are white-toothed crocodiles, green-eyed dragons, small crabs, ponderous hippoptomums, dancing "to the music that the marchers made," not to mention tigers, cranes, pelicans, peacocks, and twangling trillicans. They go off into the night as raindrops glisten on the elephants' backs and the deep dark jungle devours their tracks. Altogether a delightful journey into word play and magical illustrations. Alyssa A. Lappen

Our family LOVES this book 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

My husband made up a song to go with the words - this is one of our family's favorites! A very sing-songy read with made up words and a short but sweet narrative. Get this book and try to make up a tune to go with the poetry. This is not a counting book. If you like imagination and poetry, you'll love this.

Editorial Review:

Where those kings are headed is a mystery, but no travelers ever had such a jolly time. Here is a royal romp through a tongue-twisting paradise. 32 full-color illustrations.

Robi Dobi: The Marvelous Adventures of an Indian Elephant

Madhur Jaffrey, Amanda Hall

List Price: $14.99 By: Dial Amazon Marketplace: 13 new & used starting at $0.01

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

All Robi Dobi the elephant planned to do was make his way home through the storm to his family. But on the way, he meets a series of troubled creatures, each of whom he happily agrees to help. The magnificently magnanimous elephant keeps adding the needy to his troupe until he has a rag-tag bunch rivaling the crew of the Canterbury Tales. Kabbi Wahaabi is the orphaned mouse who has been spray-painted orange. Maya Wishkaya is the dancing butterfly who, in a feat of Icarus-style bravado, has broken her delicate wing. And finally comes the army of green parrots, on a mission to return Princess Tara to her kingdom.

In the course of battling Wicked Purple Panthers, searching for The Tree With the Flexible Glue, finding The Great Painter in the Sky, and taking revenge upon Slimey Kimey the snake-witch, Robi Dobi and company cover a lot of ground. In the process, the animals learn lessons in kindness, teamwork, patience, and taking turns, all drawing on traditional Indian myths and lore.

Madhur Jaffrey, well known for her Indian cookbook writing, uses rich and illustrative language, employing the repetitions and patterns embraced by countless folktales. Amanda Hall's beautifully colored Eastern illustrations reflect the fact that she herself traveled across India--nearly as extensively as Robi Dobi--to research Indian drawing and painting techniques. Hall's gorgeous artwork and Jaffrey's evocative prose vividly trace the pachyderm's philanthropic parade and make for great reading aloud. (Ages 8 and older)

Don't Leave an Elephant to Go and Chase a Bird

James Berry

List Price: $16.00 By: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Amazon Marketplace: 23 new & used starting at $0.42

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Rich Heritage 4 out of 5 stars.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful.

Don't Leave an Elephant to Go and Chase a Bird is a wonderfully crafted kind-hearted tale. The author quickly moves you through the adventures of Anancy the spiderman. Anancy goes from one person to the next exchanging items. His trip and the transition and exchange from one person to the next is so rhythmical, that I can almost hear drums and music as Anancy travels along. I enjoyed this book from cover to cover with such a light story and illustrations, which are influenced by traditional African art themes. Although crafted for a child, this story, a Ghanaian folk tale has a rich heritage.

Editorial Review:

Colorful stylized art inspired by African sculpture and patterns complements a traditional cautionary tale from Ghana about Anancy Spiderman, whose good fortune turns to naught when he allows his greed to get the better of him. By the author of Celebration Song.

Daddy, Could I Have an Elephant?

Jake Wolf

List Price: $15.00 By: Greenwillow Amazon Marketplace: 18 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

Despite his father's objections, Tony insists on wanting such impractical pets as an elephant, a python, or a flamingo.

Cora and the Elephant

Lissa Rovetch

List Price: $14.99 By: Viking Juvenile Amazon Marketplace: 16 new & used starting at $0.80

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Editorial Review:

Growing up with her adoptive family of elephants, young Cora eats fruits from the trees of Africa, swims in the local watering hole, and otherwise enjoys her life, except when she tries to remember how she got there.

The Elephant's Child (Books for Young Readers)

Rudyard Kipling

List Price: $6.95 By: Crocodile Books Amazon Marketplace: 6 new & used starting at $0.13

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Amazing Children's Story Delivered in Style 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.

One of the most original tales in the English language, "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling is published again, this time with pictures by Lorinda Bryan Cauley. The book has been around since 1983, and still holds its own in style.

From time to time, during visits to the zoo, have you wondered why an animal has a certain feature? Giraffes have long necks. Why? Monkeys have feet that are a lot like hands. Why? And, elephants have extraordinarily long noses. What good is that?

Kipling knew why and took time to tell us. With the refrain explaining where it all happened, by "the banks of the great-green, greasy Limpopo River, all set about with fever-trees," Kipling shows us what fun alliteration can be.

While in pursuit of an array of questions, especially what crocodiles eat, a young elephant -- an Elephant's Child, goes on a journey to the Limpopo to find out. His quick to spank him relatives don't encourage him to go so much as force him to, fully geared with little red bananas.

Loaded with naivete and his next meal, he heads out. He meets a bi-colored-python-rock-snake and the crocodile who not-so-politely gives him the answer, and the Elephant's Child returns to explain on his own terms what he learned.

A generous mix of black and white, and color pen and ink drawings frame the story. As imaginative as Kipling's words, Cauley's pictures will tease readers to wonder about the animals and exotic jungle and river.

Versions of "The Elephant's Child" abound, as the original tale is part of public domain. Be sure to get an unedited, uncorrected version, as modern editors lack the brilliance Kipling was blessed with.

I fully recommend "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling, and this version is worthy of the story and your shelf.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

Editorial Review:

First published in 1902, this unique and hilarious tale tells the story of the 'satiable Elephant's Child who, because of his "'satiable curtiosity", asked too many questions, which always brought him too many spankings. A wonderfully imagined tale exquisitely illustrated by Jan Mogensen, this book will delight children -- and their parents -- time and time again.

The Elephant at the Waldorf

Anne Miranda

List Price: $14.95 By: Bridgewater Books Amazon Marketplace: 25 new & used starting at $0.01

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Editorial Review:

A lively tale in verse recounts how an entire circus crew and one little boy figure out how to get an elephant into one of the poshest hotels in New York City. By the author of Baby Talk.