[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Karadi Tales Picturebooks
Formats: Paperback
Purchase: Powell’s | Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble[/alert]
A little girl from India, Maya, goes to the zoo to visit the elephant with her grandma. But after the elephant has a baby, the baby follows Maya home! Amusing misunderstandings follow, with Maya caring for baby elephant Acchu in her yard, and her parents and grandparents almost catching sight of Maya’s new pet, but then just missing him at the last moment. But since an elephant is hardly an appropriate house pet, even in India, Acchu’s mother fortunately comes to take him homein the end.
This is a cute story for young readers, who would find humor in Maya’s family’s confusing almost-encounters with the elephant, and would feel a conspiratorial kinship with Maya as she manages to keep the elephant a secret. The illustrations are bright, colorful, and evocative of India, while also being childlike and relatable. It’s a fun, simple story, and it doesn’t hammer home any big, sweeping morals or lessons…but sometimes children don’t need morals, just entertainment.
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