WHAT ABOUT AN ELEPHANT?

A seamless combination of safari story and bite-size bits of science.

How often do kids close a book before reading the backmatter? Kerbel cleverly sidesteps that problem in her two most recent books by including relevant facts on each page. The narrator addresses readers as “you”; the reader’s stand-in is a pale, rosy-cheeked child wearing a big explorer-style hat, kerchief, and khaki shorts. What might “you” want to do on a safari? For sure, bring a camera to photograph the scenery—and the elephant that conveniently appears! The smiling, friendly elephant drinks, bathes, poops, snacks on leaves, and plays with the child at a watering hole. While the pachyderm isn’t overtly anthropomorphized, she and the child appear to have a rapport, and at the end, the child is introduced to the elephant’s family. On every page, smaller type conveys a sentence or two of elephant facts closely connected to the activity in that part of the story. A page of additional information at the end is useful for integrating into the repeat readings that are sure to be requested. Lo’s watercolor-style illustrations realistically but freely depict the blue sky, the tan savanna, and, as the day advances, the reds of sunset. It’s an informative trip worth taking.

Another clever and appealing integration of data and narrative.