Tuesday, September 6, 2016

Monkey and Elephant review

Monkey and Elephant by Carole Lexa Schaefer,  illustrated by Galia Bernstein

Monkey and Elephant set out to find shade on a very hot day in the jungle.  Along the way they disagree about many things but find a way to remain friends.


As the good friends, Monkey and Elephant set out they start to annoy each other and then the complaints start.  One goes too slow, the other too fast, one is too cranky the other too bossy.  As the journey continues the friends find a way to work through their differences.  It is a nice example of how even people who are completely different from each other can still be friends.  (They remind me of Bee Hee and Henry, whose friendship is very special even though they could not be more different.)  
And how those differences can even make the friendship better when they use those differences to help each other out.  Even when circumstances (like the heat, and just ask any of the Monkeys about how the heat can stress a friendship when I am the one who is hot) makes them annoyed with each other and they cannot agree about things they are still friends.  The illustrations are bold and bright.  It is great how expressive Elephant's eyes are.  The text is good for beginning readers and will probably introduces them to new words and help expand their vocabulary.  And words like spunky, riffraff, and galump make it fun to read about these two friends.

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