A cute story about a boy who has an unexpected visitor. An elephant has taken over his house and when he tries to tell his friends, they tell him he must be tired because elephants don't live in houses. When oneday his friends come to visit, they see the elephant, but how can this be. They too begin to pretend that they don't see the elephant. Grades 1 - 3. ( )

“What Elephant?” is a playful take on the saying “an elephant in the room”. In this story George awakes to find an elephant in his house, sleeping on his couch, wearing his clothes, and eating his food. He runs out of his house to tell his friend Pip about this alarming development. Pip nor any of George’s other friends believe him, and George goes home believing he must be dreaming or crazy. A week later the elephant is still living in George’s house when Pip and Maggie come over. Having both told George he must be imagining the elephant, they pretend they don’t see the elephant that is sunbathing while they serenely sip their lemonade. Finally someone shows up from the circus the elephant, Shiraz, has escaped from to take her home forcing George and company to admit that there was, indeed, an elephant in the room.
The story is humorous, with the elephant being the main source of humor. She reads newspapers, wears George’s clothes, and snuggles with teddy bears. The watercolor illustrations match the tone of the story, with the elephant disproportionally large in comparison to everything around her. The entire book has a pleasant whimsy to it. PreK – 2nd grade. ( )