a LARGE decision must be made
Author/Illustrator: Vanessa Westgate
Publisher: Clavis (June 25, 2019)
Genre: Picture Book
- Hardcover: 32 pages
Description
Laugh out loud – and learn!
“If you want to catch an elephant, first you must find out where elephants live . . .”
So begins this tale of a boy and his quest for a pet elephant.
But maybe catching an elephant isn’t as simple as it sounds . . .
A delightful and compassionate story for elephant lovers ages 4 years and up.
(from the publisher)
My Thoughts:
I had to read this story a couple of times before working through what I actually thought about it. While I like the idea, it didn’t really come across to me as either funny or serious. It felt more like an odd and almost sad mix of both.
I’m sure part of my concern was the choice of animal to capture since the poaching of elephants has been a real concern. However, I do realize it’s a picture book, and the main point relates to all wildlife. Not just elephants.
The illustrations are mainly shades of blues and yellows, though the guide that is hired to help locate an elephant drives a black and white safari-type car. The blue-haired boy who wishes to catch an elephant seems to know exactly how to do it. So he takes the reader through locating where elephants live, getting a guide, setting a trap, etc. The reader is then taken on a reverse trip to get the elephant home: going to an airport, getting the elephant a passport and making sure they get a jumbo jet and a big truck.
But when the boy sees that the elephant isn’t happy, he has a big decision to make.
Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing me with an ARC and the ability to post a review.
What Concerned Me:
This message almost felt like it would have been better as a non-fiction book. But again, maybe that was due to the elephant in the story. Though I did end up reading it several times, and there were some cute pictures, I couldn’t get past the sad feeling that I was left with.
I’m not sure little ones will really understand the message.
What I Liked Most:
It took me more than one read to appreciate the artwork, but it is something that will most likely catch the eye of little ones. And the bright colors and whimsical drawings are definitely cute.
I’m also a great fan of the message that this book is attempting to make.
Born in England, Vanessa Westgate grew up in the U.K. and then moved to New York to pursue a life in art (and a boyfriend). She has been a textile designer, a photographer, a travel writer/photographer, a ceramic artist, a painter, a geographer and an environmentalist. Now she lives and works in Los Angeles and writes and illustrates picture books for children. She is a member of SCBWI.
“I love to create stories for children. The combination of words and art is so exciting. What I try to do is tell a story very simply about something that is very complex, and in so doing I try to show the truth and beauty of it, and perhaps create a sense of wonder in that.” My stories are often inspired by nature and I hope that children will learn to love nature too.
“In the end we will conserve only what we love,
we will love only what we understand,
and we will understand only what we are taught.” …Baba Doum
In her pre-artist life in England, Vanessa sold encyclopedias (for 2 weeks), cleaned trains for British Rail (for two months) and worked in a Birds Eye frozen food factory (for too long). She graduated Summa Cum Laude from UCLA in 2007 with a B/A in Geography. Her favorite color is turquoise… and orange… and stripes! And yellow! Her favorite food is chocolate… (Please do not send her chocolate!)
