Elephant Island

Arnold is a seafaring elephant. He loves being on the sea. One day a wave hits his boat and destroys it. But Arnold has a “built-in snorkel,” (his trunk) and is able to reach a tiny island. As he stands on the tiny island, he begins to trumpet. A small fish stops by and asks what the tune is. Arnold says he is signaling for help, and soon a mouse in a boat comes by. Arnold jumps into the boat and smashes it to smithereens. But he cleverly uses the smithereens to build onto the island. More rescuers come with much the same results, and Arnold keeps on building. Soon Elephant Island becomes quite the destination.

Leo Timmers, both author and illustrator, has created a very memorable character in Arnold the seafaring elephant. He is spunky and sweet, and the book is bound to have youngsters laughing out loud. The story is just plain silly, but the illustrations are the real star here. Every page is filled with delightful details that will have little ones searching the pages for all the fun to be found there. This has “Read it again” written all over it. Don’t miss it.