Friday, August 14, 2015

Elephant in the Dark

Elephant in the Dark. Mina Javaherbin. Illustrated by Eugene Yelchin. 2015. [August] Scholastic. 40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Merchant Ahmad had brought a mysterious creature all the way from India! The news spread fast through the village. What could the huge beast be?

Premise/plot: A village determines to find out about the mysterious new beast--by feeling their way to the truth in a dark barn. Every single person gives a different description. After the first few people share with the others their descriptions and conclusions, much arguing follows. Especially as more and more people keep adding to the discussion with their insights.

My thoughts: A retellng of a familiar poem or story. One version of this folk tale was by Rumi, a 13th Century Persian poet. His was called "The Elephant in the Dark." Overall, I liked this story. I thought Eugene Yelchin did a great job with the illustrations, matching them with the story's origins and giving the book a very traditional feel.

Text: 3 out of 5
Illustrations: 4 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10

© 2015 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews

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