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THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER

Name: THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER
Author: Linda Ragsdale
ISBN: 9781486726998

From the Peace Dragon Tales series

by Linda Ragsdale ; illustrated by Cat LeMaster ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

Well told, but a few missteps detract from the tale.

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Let’s talk about the elephant in the room.

Artie, a brown-skinned boy with dark, curly hair, imagines his feelings are colorful elephants. There’s a red elephant that represents anger, a green elephant that represents anxiety, a purple elephant that represents frustration, and so on. Like his feelings, the elephants are sometimes small and manageable but other times grow and stampede, causing Artie to act out, too. Ironically, Artie notes, for animals with such large ears, the elephants don’t always listen, but he finally has a brilliant idea: He should be the one to listen to them instead. Listening to his emotions helps Artie better voice his emotions, shrinking the elephants and resulting in fewer stampedes—and fewer outbursts from Artie. The text is effective, although backmatter to help direct readers and their caregivers to better express and understand their emotions is sorely missed. While bright and cheerful, the artwork looks rudimentary and may remind some of the early days of digital picture book artwork. While the messaging and story are strong, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Well told, but a few missteps detract from the tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 21, 2023

ISBN: 9781486726998

Page Count: 36

Publisher: Flowerpot Press

Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
BREATHE
by Linda Ragsdale ; illustrated by Lindsay Cook

- BOOK REVIEW
THIS RAINDROP
by Linda Ragsdale ; illustrated by Srimalie Bassani

- BOOK REVIEW
POSITIVELY PURPLE
by Linda Ragsdale ; illustrated by P.S. Brooks

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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GRUMPY MONKEY

by Suzanne Lang ; illustrated by Max Lang ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 15, 2018

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his...

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It’s a wonderful day in the jungle, so why’s Jim Panzee so grumpy?

When Jim woke up, nothing was right: "The sun was too bright, the sky was too blue, and bananas were too sweet." Norman the gorilla asks Jim why he’s so grumpy, and Jim insists he’s not. They meet Marabou, to whom Norman confides that Jim’s grumpy. When Jim denies it again, Marabou points out that Jim’s shoulders are hunched; Jim stands up. When they meet Lemur, Lemur points out Jim’s bunchy eyebrows; Jim unbunches them. When he trips over Snake, Snake points out Jim’s frown…so Jim puts on a grimacelike smile. Everyone has suggestions to brighten his mood: dancing, singing, swinging, swimming…but Jim doesn’t feel like any of that. He gets so fed up, he yells at his animal friends and stomps off…then he feels sad about yelling. He and Norman (who regrets dancing with that porcupine) finally just have a sit and decide it’s a wonderful day to be grumpy—which, of course, makes them both feel a little better. Suzanne Lang’s encouragement to sit with your emotions (thus allowing them to pass) is nearly Buddhist in its take, and it will be great bibliotherapy for the crabby, cranky, and cross. Oscar-nominated animator Max Lang’s cartoony illustrations lighten the mood without making light of Jim’s mood; Jim has comically long arms, and his facial expressions are quite funny.

Though Jim may have been grumpy because a chimp’s an ape and not a monkey, readers will enjoy and maybe learn from his journey. (Picture book. 4-8)