Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Zola's Elephant by Randall de Sève

Title: Zola's Elephant
Author: Randall de Sève
Publisher: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publication date: October 9, 2018
Pages: 40
Source/format: ARC//The Horn Book

Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Synopsis (from goodreads.com):

When Zola moves into the neighborhood, her new next-door neighbor is too shy to go over and introduce herself. Plus, Zola already has a friend to play with—an elephant!

M Y  T H O U G H T S

Zola's Elephant is such a fun and timeless book. The narrator is a kid meeting Zola for the very first time when Zola moves into town. Zola has an elephant friend who loves toast and hide and seek. At first the narrator describes Zola from far away but eventually befriends Zola. Seeing Zola interact with her elephant with other animals is comforting. There's a clubhouse where Zola relaxes, shares secrets and shares stories. The narrator is afraid that they cannot be friends with Zola because Zola has an elephant as a friend already. Randall de Sève shows how children are scared befriending others. It takes courage to step up and meet someone new. However, because Zola is new in town, befriending someone can help ease the anxiety for Zola since she doesn't know anyone in the new town she moved too.

Pamela Zagarenski uses muted colors and creates a lot of textures within the illustrations. The brush strokes creates a nice backdrop for the story. Some pops of color such as yellow and red adds some warmth to the paintings. The scattered stars throughout the picture book adds a sense of whimsy. Throughout the book, the illustrator has the same small rocking horse and yellow bird hidden through multiple pages. Teapots and teacups are also very prominent on most pages. This acts sort of a Where's Waldo finding game which can be fun for kids. Circles and rectangles are popular shapes that decorate the pages. The rectangles create a patchwork look to the houses and moving boxes.

Overall, Zola's Elephant is a visually pleasing and fun multi-purpose book. Children get to explore different feelings when meeting someone new and it also addresses kids' imaginations. This timeless and whimsical book is perfect for those who want to read about friendship and befriending others. 

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