Awards

• Commended for Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children 2016

Overview

“A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale.” —The New York Times Book Review “Sweet and affirming.” —Kirkus Reviews “With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story.”—School Library Journal “Heartening.”—Booklist In this bestselling and internationally beloved picture book, the local Pet Club won’t admit a boy’s tiny pet elephant, so he finds a solution—one that involves all kinds of unusual animals. Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend. Strictly No Elephants has been sold around the world and is heralded as a pitch-perfect book about inclusion. Imaginative and lyrical, this sweet story captures the magic of friendship and the joy of having a pet.

Full Product Details

9781481416474

Table of Contents

Reviews

Having a tiny elephant for a pet sounds idyllic, but a boy discovers that the local Pet Club doesn't allow them; a stern girl points at a Strictly No Elephants sign. Heading home in the rain, the boy and his elephant spot a girl with her skunk. They don't want us to play with them either, she says. Joined by other owners of unexpected pets--giraffes, armadillos, even a small narwhal in a bowl--they make their own club with its own sign: All Are Welcome. In her first picture book, Mantchev (Ticker) examines true friendship, sprinkling observations about the behavior of boy and elephant throughout ( He doesn't like the cracks in the sidewalk much. I always go back and help him over ) and punctuating them with the refrain, Because that's what friends do. Yoo's (Hands Say Love) linoleum block prints of brick buildings and quiet sidewalks have the softness and warmth of a favorite blanket. It's a message book about exclusion with an oh-so-gentle lead-in for discussion.--Publishers Weekly July 20, 2015

Author Information

Lisa Mantchev is the author of many picture books, including the internationally acclaimed Strictly No Elephants and The Trouble with Giraffes, both illustrated by Taeeun Yoo; Remarkables, illustrated by David Litchfield; and Someday, Narwhal, illustrated by Hyewon Yum. Lisa lives on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Learn more at LisaMantchev.com. Taeeun Yoo has twice received the prestigious New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book Award. She has illustrated many books, including Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, which has been published in nineteen countries. The New York Times called it a “sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale.” She is also the illustrator of Kitten and the Night Watchman by John Sullivan, which received five starred reviews and was named a best book of the year by many publications. Her other books include So Many Days and Only a Witch Can Fly, both by Alison McGhee, and Round by Joyce Sidman. Taeeun was also the recipient of the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Society of Illustrators’ Founders Award. She lives in South Korea with her family.

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