BlooMSBury The Obvious Elephant

When an elephant arrives - unannounced and totally unexpected - in the village square, no one knows what it is. But everyone is prepared to make a wild guess. Could it be a train? Or a fire engine or even something for collecting rubbish? It is all down to the persistence of one little boy called Eric that eventually ensures that the identity of the elephant is deduced - and the poor thing is given a name. This is a funny, unusual and very whimsical picture book. Praise for "Obvious Elephant": "one of the year's most delightful picture books" - "Financial Times", December 2000. "I'd call it One Hundred Percent Pleasure." - "Observer Review", December 2000. "A completely enchanting and thought provoking tale." - "The Guardian", November 2000. Editorial Reviews Amazon.com Review British duo Bruce Robinson and Sophie Windham (writer-husband and illustrator-wife, respectively) team up here to poke and prod at an out-of-nowhere elephant, a poor old pachyderm who doesn't even know what he is. But then again, neither does anyone else in the town: "One day the people awoke to find an Elephant sitting bewildered in the main square, mopping his brow with a red spotted handkerchief and wondering how he got there." But a boy named Eric, "who was seven and three-quarters and known for telling Tall Stories"--does know what this creature is, but no one seems to be listening. Everyone in town ends up guessing at the identity and function of this strange beast--the Train Driver connects him to a train, the Fireman uses him to fight a fire, the Garbage Collector sends him out to vacuum garbage until the Elephant nearly bursts. But in the end Eric prevails, with the help of the scatterbrained Professor. ("'But what does it do?' they asked. 'It does nothing!' cried Eric. 'It simply is an elephant.' 'Yes, of the long-nosed variety,' added the Professor.") Kids will find Robinson's building, repetitive structure fun to follow, but it's the details from Windham (Unicorns! Unicorns!) that carry the day in this silly story. From the Professor's chalk scribblings to a dozen-odd throwaway animal cameos (like three cute bears climbing over the moon and a fire-watching pelican), every illustration deserves a long linger. (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Publishers Weekly This endearing nonsense tale from a British husband-and-wife team concerns an unknown gray object found sitting in the village square. "Maybe it wants plugging in?" one villager says. "Look at that nozzle on him.... What's that for?" says another. Windham's (Unicorns! Unicorns!) cast resembles wooden dolls, with round heads and stiff hands there's even a solemn king and queen and they bustle about importantly as they work to solve the riddle of the thing's identity. The Train Driver decides the object is a railway engine and hitches it up to a train, but the mystery guest does not like coal "I like buns and cakes." The timid pachyderm seems to press against the very edges of the illustrations, and swells to alarming proportions when the villagers try to use it to suck up garbage. Eric, "a little boy who was seven and three quarters and known locally for telling Tall Stories," saves the day. He brings the mystery to the Professor, prompting him to identify it as an elephant, which gratifies the villagers and greatly relieves their visitor. Windham's inventive and deadpan drawings provide the best moments. The combination of elephants and landscapes in which such animals are rarely seen at rural British train stations, in libraries, drifting in oceans will inspire grins in the most earnest listener. Robinson's British whimsy plus an elephant-sized imagination should earn this story a place at bedside tables on both sides of the Atlantic. Ages 4-8. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.