Published: 27th October 2015
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Illustrator: Taeeun Yoo
Pages: 32
Format: Paperback
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ – 5 Stars
Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t 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.
This book is a combination of adorable and heart-warming and will totally break your heart before putting it back together with sticky tape. It is an incredibly sweet book about being excluded and finding a place to belong.
The story is filled with morals and lessons about being a good friend and a good person told through an engaging narrative. It is a wonderful comparison to the beginning of the book where the young boy and his pet elephant are discriminated against. As you read you see how not to behave and then Mantchev reinforces the correct behaviour all in a wonderful story about a boy and his love and friendship for his pet tiny elephant.
Yoo’s illustrations are so adorable. The colours are bright and realistic and they fill most of the page, leaving just enough room for the text. Seeing the tiny elephant go for walks is the cutest thing and I loved the illustrations how they matched the text adding that extra bit of storytelling. Yoo’s use of colours is also fantastic because different tones are used to highlight things and single things out on the page, drawing your eye to their significance.
The ending of the book promotes kindness and acceptance and makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It’s also humorous because the pets the other children have are not your typical pets but they are all welcome nonetheless. This is also where Yoo shines because seeing his illustrations of these unique animals is a fantastic ending to the book.
You can purchase Strictly No Elephants via the following
QBD | Booktopia | Book Depository
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