Elephants Books

I think the title can be a little jolting, because who wants to teach their children about war. But if you're like me, and your children are exposed to NO television, this book is perfectly fine and a safe way to introduce a disagreement, or as they are calling it, "battle". There is nothing too rough about this book, but I also love the Wully-Wully book. I recommend all of the Babar books.

War. Mean rhinos, kind elephants. Conflict that takes the characters (Rataxes and his band, anyway) to the brink of violence...It's fine to anthropomorphize to make a point, and with Babar the point is fine, because he's kind, thoughtful, and peaceful. But the poor rhinos, the treatment they receive here, is pathetic...

Please -- pass on this one. Go with Shel Silverstein or other rhino authors. Early Babar books, fine...

This is the 1991 version of the story which is a 40 word reader and does not contain the offensive materials referred to by the other reviewer.

This 1949 book is inapppropriate for modern children. In one story, it manages to be insulting to both black Africans and Native Americans! The black African characters are referred to as "savages" and described as being afraid of rain, while their medicine man is referred to as a "sorcerer." In a prior related scene, the elephant children dress up as "Indians" in feathered headresses and play with bow and arrow.

This Babar story has become hopelessly dated by modern standards, and should be relegated to collectors.

This book has nothing to do with William Defoe. I failed my paper. She should have calld her book something else, because I didn't know until it was too late! I copied some stuff out of here and my teacher said I didn't even proofread. If you like William Defoe, you should see the movie Platoon. 'Nuf said.

Whether or not you will "like" this book is really quite irrelevant ... if pick it up, make no sense of it, and put it down in disgust then you have missed the point. This "novel" is an experiment in what literature of the future might look like, how far we can get from narrative and still "mean" something to a reader, and so on.

Read this book if you are turned on by surrealist literature (like stuff published by Atlas Press), John Ashbery's poetry, the films of Stan Brakhage and Ernie Gehr, or Derrida's epistolary novel "The Post Card." The Brakhage connection is particularly apt here -- his films are often viewed with incomprehension themselves, but their influence has subtly permeated our culture by impacting the vision of many filmmakers. You can't look at TV for ten minutes these days without seeing Brakhage's influence in a commercial or TV program. I can imagine Scalapino and other writers like her having a similar, subtle effect on writing of the future.

Elmer's day is a wonderful book for toddlers. My son loves this book because he can "read" a word on every page. Elemr looks different from normal elephants with his multi-colored skin, however many ordinary-looking elephant are also depicted. I think that although this book will not be a favorite for a long time, it is great for 1 1/2 years olds because they like the simple drawings, bright colors, and the familiar context.

I'm disappointed in the Elmer series in Urdu. I would only recommend it to people who couldn't get a hold of anything else - and that's the only reason I might get a couple of others in the series. The translation is not good. I complained to the publisher but they stood their ground and claimed that the translator was an educationist. I'm sorry but they need to get a better translation. "A shower wakes Elmer up" is translated as "paani ki avaz se Elmer ki aankh khul jaati hai." It's not the sound of water but a SHOWER (nahaana) that wakes him up! It's so basic. The other thing I dislike about it is that it is English-centric. The story is not appropriate for an urdu translation anyway. "Lines" is "lakeerain" in Urdu, not "lineain." How hard is it to find a story with words that are colloquial in Urdu? Despite good production value, I am disappointed in this series and would rather order stuff from Pakistan when my kid is willing to read without ripping a paper-book apart.

I was expecting to see pictures of old things collected, loved, and admired. That was not the case. It was my error, and I was very disappointed. I would not recommend this book to anyone that is looking for the same thing.

Nostalgia reigns supreme in this beautifully illustrated picture book. An excellent book for parents, grandparents and the kids to look through together and share the memories. An absolute must for any antique lover.

It took Amazon and the distributor over three weeks to get delivery to me. The story is awesome, the author was creative in her way of describing an area of Florida that I could picture in my head. I would by more books by this author. Publisher needs to proof read the product before distribution too many printing mistakes when story transferred to there printer that took away from the story.

The connection between the boy and his elephant is never so sweet as when he, as an adult, reconnects and confirms a once in a lifetime friendship. You feel that his whole life has revolved around the understanding and love that was given to him as a child by the most unlikely of friends. I wish we all could have a Mimi. I couldn't wait for the last chapter, then I was sad it was gone. A wonderful book!

Great book for babies, especially those who can anticipate what happens next. My 7-1/2 month old son likes "lift-and-peek" books and I love the easy, rhythmic reading of this book. This is the Dr. Seuss style that I loved as a kid!

I was expecting Dr. Seuss and got something I won't even read to my daughter. The illustrations are a "modernized" Dr. Seuss in pastels and rounded forms. The most disappointing thing of all is the text -- the rhymes are forced, sometimes cliched, definitely unoriginal -- "Shhh!/I'm Horton, and here on this bright, sunny morn,/I'm guarding an egg till what's in it gets born./Inside is a Zubble-wump--Mr. or Ms./But I don't really know what a Zubble-wump is!..." Gikow had a great opportunity to give details about all the different kinds of animals born from eggs in the story, but passes that up in favor of keeping a bouncing (overtypical) rhythm -- for example, the platypus: "It could be some animal far from the farm / Who needs its friend Horton to keep it from harm (why?) /Whose mother would kick up a terrible fuss / If something disturbed her sweet Gertie or Gus (awfully forced). / Could it be related to the / platypus?" What does this tell us (except for very vague references to the close maternal relationship of the mammal to its young) about the platypus? Children can learn nothing from this book except bad illustrations and unoriginal rhyme/rhythm form. Its only redeeming quality is the "lift-and-peek" function, which is fun for babies and toddlers. But there are many other better lift and peek books out there. I regret having bought this book, and when my daughter wants to read it, I always make up a different story to go with the pictures.

We are a Babar family. We have nearly every Babar book avalibale and I must say that this book just does not measure up. True, it is directed to the younget of the young, but there is no natural flow to the book, and it does not read easily at all. Far better off with another Babar book.

I like all the Babar books but the plot of this book, Babar looking for a lost bird, didn't interest me that much. I wouldn't recomend this one unless you have all the others already.

My mother bought a bunch of these books for my 3 yr old because she remembered how much I loved them as a child. These are great books for introducing concepts such as imagination, manners, and friendships to young children. My son is thrilled with this book and I look forward to adding to his Babar collection!