Free to Be Elephant Me

by Giles Andreae, Guy Parker-Rees (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

From the bestselling creators of Giraffes Can't Dance comes a new story about Num-Num aka Elephant Me, who celebrates the power of individuality rather than conformity. A fun, vibrantly illustrated story that is perfect for a re-readable story time. Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees work their magic once again on this special, versatile story that will inspire us all.

From the bestselling creators of Giraffes Can't Dance comes a delightful story about an elephant looking for a place where he belongs.

It's time for the Elephant Games! Every young elephant parades their talent in front of the king to earn their special elephant name. But Num-Num doesn't have a special skill to display. With a little help from some familiar friends, will this little elephant learn that being yourself is the most important talent of them all?

Readers will love seeing some of their favorite characters from Giraffes Can't Dance return. Free to Be Elephant Me is perfect for family sharing and for teaching young readers about the importance of being yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338734270
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	06/01/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	527,224
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Guy Parker-Rees' exuberant and energetic illustrations have made him a household name and one of today's bestselling children's illustrators. Notable successes include the picture book classic Giraffes Can't Dance, a worldwide bestseller; Spooky Hour; and Free to Be Elephant Me. Guy lives in Brighton, UK, with his wife and three sons.
Giles Andreae is the author of many top-selling, award-winning picture books. These include Free to Be Elephant Me, Rumble in the Jungle, Commotion in the Ocean, and I Love My Mummy. However, it is for the international bestseller Giraffes Can't Dance that he is best known. Giles lives with his wife, Victoria, a children's clothes designer, and their four children by the river in Oxfordshire, UK.

Editorial Reviews

08/09/2021

Originally published in the U.K., this picture book by the creators of Giraffes Can’t Dance follows young Num-Num the elephant, who doesn’t have a talent to impress Elephant Mighty, the pachyderms’ throned ruler. Without a skill, Num-Num can’t earn a special Elephant Name, but after setting off to a different water hole, he meets a variety of animals, eventually resulting in a triumphant realization: “ ‘I’ll tell you my Elephant Name,’ Num-Num said,/ ‘I want to be/ ELEPHANT/ ME.’ ” Andreae relays the story in bouncy quatrains: “And each time an elephant managed to prove/ A talent or skill to the king,/ The monarch would give them an ELEPHANT NAME.../ An honor they all longed to win.” Parker-Rees contributes affable, dynamic art in a light-colored palette. While those familiar with the genre won’t find anything particularly innovative, this is a clear, uncomplicated morale booster. Ages 4–8. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Free to be Elephant Me:

"

Andreae's signature perky, rhymed verse pairs nicely with Parker-Rees' sunny cartoon illustrations. ...this [book] has both a heart and a spirited lead." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

05/14/2021

PreS-Gr 1—The creators of Giraffes Can't Dance now take on the topic of naming elephants. King Elephant Mighty is not impressed when he sees a young elephant struggle to lift or blow out of his trunk. He seems to have no strength and no voice, so he's given the name Elephant Nothing-at-All. This causes him to leave the jungle, but when he does, he finds new friends who see his strengths—and convince him of them, too. This motivates him to declare his new, better-suited name, in a way that causes change and happiness in many others who had been suffering living under the expectations and limitations of their given names. This fun story told in rhyme may cause some dancing and a bit of conversation about the important, less visible qualities people have that make them unique. VERDICT While not an essential purchase, this humorous tale will have preschoolers intrigued about the value and caprice of a good name.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake P.L., Alta.

School Library Journal

2021-03-17
What will Num-Num’s Elephant Name be?

Elephant tradition demands that every young elephant perform for Elephant Mighty to show they are best at something. Elephant Mighty, depicted in the illustrations as a tusked, enthroned bull with crown and ermine-trimmed robe, will then reward them with an Elephant Name. When Nina pulls a tree from the ground with her trunk, Elephant Mighty says, “Your trunk is so splendid and long! / I never imagined that tree would come loose. / I’m calling you ELEPHANT STRONG!” But Num-Num doesn’t have a talent. Though he tries a few tricks when forced to, the elephants laugh at him, and Elephant Mighty dubs him Elephant Nothing. Num-Num moves far away to his own watering hole, where, because he is such a sweet elephant, he makes a lot of new friends of many different species. When they hear his story, they’re shocked. The group treks back to tell Elephant Mighty how wrong he was. Num-Num tells a skeptical ruler that he wants to be Elephant Me. “I may not be noisy or tough, / But the hardest thing sometimes is just to be YOU, / And to know being YOU is ENOUGH.” Elephant Mighty has a surprising response, and everything ends with a dance. Andreae’s signature perky, rhymed verse (here set in abcb quatrains) pairs nicely with Parker-Rees’ sunny cartoon illustrations.

A bit too straightforward with its lesson, but this British import has both a heart and a spirited lead. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews