School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-The author of Monkey Truck (Holt, 2011) takes his characters to the skies with the highly versatile and helpful Elecopter, an elephant blessed with the main rotor, tail rotor, and landing skids of a helicopter. Flying high above the savannah, she assists friends in trouble. Digitally created, brightly colored cartoon images of African animals illustrate the predictable adventure and rescue plot. When she sees dark fire clouds, Elecopter rushes to save animals and extinguish a raging conflagration with her "fire-hose nose." Various perspectives highlight her efforts as she whirs from animal to animal; as the flames grow higher, the font looms larger, and one illustration encourages children to turn the book for a better view of a giraffe's long-necked rescue. "Working for peanuts," this helicopter hero with large expressive eyes gives students a reason to cheer.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Slack reprises the formula he used in 2011's Monkey Truck to equally raucous effect, creating a hybrid elephant/helicopter who patrols the savannah. Giggle-inducing humor and nail-biting action are also part of the equation: "Whatever her mission, she always succeeds," writes Slack as Elecopter prevents a bushy-maned lion from walking off a cliff, then gives him a dapper new 'do with her propeller blades. Elecopter's bright coloring, long eyelashes, and propensity for flight may call to mind Dumbo, yet this flying elephant proves that her bravery is second to none. In the story's tensest sequence, Elecopter rescues a group of animals from wildfire: "Flying into danger, she's first on the scene/ to airlift a rhino from a rocky ravine." She also escorts to safety a cheetah, a passel of baboons, and a giraffe, and, best of all, she works for peanuts. Rendered in a palette of neon blues, yellows, and magentas, Slack's manic digital collages are not unlike a vintage Golden Book on LSD-in other words, just right for this oddball conceit. Ages 2-5. Agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.