School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Mama elephant and her baby spend the day cavorting together in this gentle picture book. They traipse across the dry and dusty plains, splish and splash in the cool river, and play in the tall green grass. The pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations, set against warm washes of yellows and blues, complement the soft, comforting tone of the rhyming text. The bright sunny day gives way to an azure, star-filled night, and the elephants arrive in a field of dewy grass to sleep. "Last thing at night we curl in a hug,/safe and happy, cozy and snug./And we sink into sleep and dream of new days./My mama's love surrounds me always." Pair this book with Mem Fox's Time for Bed (Harcourt, 1993) for a soothing bedtime ritual.-Lisa Gangemi Kropp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The mama of the title is an elephant, and over the course of a day in the savanna, her baby exudes the contentment and security that come from being in her super-size company. This British team leaves no doubt as to the rapport between parent and child: splashing in a pond, their glee is utterly mutual, and when they face off, Kavanagh (The Little Prince and the Great Dragon) writes: "Sometimes we laugh for no reason at all,/ comparing our trunks, one big, one small." Unfortunately, the text seldom rises above lackluster rhymes and obviousness ("We gaze at the birds flying into the night/ and the stars in the sky, all twinkly and bright"). Chapman is more consistently successful, although readers expecting the same level of comic joie de vivre of her Bear Snores On will find her work tamer here. With the languid setting and the story's lack of dramatic tension, most of the pictures are studies in placid satisfaction. But Chapman playfully contrasts the difference in the elephants' sizes-in the final spread, for example, the baby sleeps between the mother's redwood-like legs-and there's an affecting poignancy whenever the animals exchange looks with their gentle black eyes. Ages 1-5. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
