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14th out of 27 books
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19 voters
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"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!"
The last time the elephant sneezed, he blew monkeys out of the trees, stripes off the zebra, and spots off the leopard. This rollicking new edition of the favorite nonsense verse again shows the panic that follows the elephant's dreaded announcement.
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
April 23rd 1990
by HarperCollins
(first published 1971)
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Donna Crane
added it
The tension builds for young readers as the animals relate in dramatic fashion the LAST time the elephant sneezed. "The last time you sneezed we lost every feather. We didn't know whether/We'd ever get back together. Every parakeet/Was as bare as a sheet/From his head to his feet" we read as the elephant writhes in agony, trying to suppress the inevitable windstorm. There's the hippopotamus who will fall right on its bottom-us, the bear who'll lose all his hair...you get the picture. T...more
I grew up having this book read to me and now I get to read it with my kids. It rhymes, though it isn't as rhythmic as I'd like it sometimes. The pictures are fun and the storyline is nonsensical and amusing. Lots of fake sneezing happens during the reading of this book.:-)
The elephant, of course, is going to sneeze. (Actually, there are youtube videos of elephants sneezing and not much happens because of it, but realism isn't the point, now is it?) So he warns everybody, and they start giving these long (long! don't read this book to a kiddo with a short attention span!) pleas, reminding him of the disaster that struck the LAST time he sneezed - the bear went bare, and all the hippopotamuseses fell on their bottomuseses, the feathers fell off the birds and the fl...more
This was a childhood favorite (my parents’ copy was falling apart for years, but they still have it, the spine held together with duct tape) and for Valentine’s Day, my mother sent me a reissued copy. So I re-read it for this packet. No wonder I loved it as a kid. It’s hilarious—all about an elephant who realizes he needs to sneeze, and the animals who plead with him not to because of the horrible things that happened last time. So instead he starts laughing, and he chortles so long and loud, th...more
This is super cute! I was surprised Julia got as into the illustrations as she did, just because of the more reserved tone but she really, really enjoyed them. She devoured each page. I'd be lying if I said I didn't do the same.
The story is one of the few that really can make you LOL. In a time when this little term, three little letters, make everything seem so darn funny, this story really is.
We read in the back of the book that this was Patricia Thomas' first book! I'm going to ...more
The story is one of the few that really can make you LOL. In a time when this little term, three little letters, make everything seem so darn funny, this story really is.
We read in the back of the book that this was Patricia Thomas' first book! I'm going to ...more
“Stand Back” Said The Elephant, “I’m Going To Sneeze!” written by Patricia Thomas, is a funny, rhyming story. Each animal in the book tells a story about what happened the last time Elephant sneezed. After each animal tells him why he should not sneeze, a little mouse scares him and the elephant doesn’t have to sneeze anymore. However, the elephant finds it so amusing that a little mouse could scare him that he laughs and laughs. He laughs so hard that all the things the animals were afraid of h...more
My favorite children's book of all time, this one is sure to have everyone cracking up.
Melissa
added it
Our copy of this book is a Weekly Reader edition that belonged to my husband when he was little. Delightful art, bursting with personality and humor. The rollicking rhyme works well for this silly tale of animals begging an elephant not to unleash his powerful and destructive sneeze. A frequent read-aloud request from my younger children. (I admit: when the toddler is the sole requester, I usually only read the first couple of lines on each page. The book is a bit text-heavy for a two-year-old, ...more
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This book has been a long time favorite at our house. I'm reviewing it today because I want anyone reading this review who has young kids to get a copy! I read it to my Kindergartener's class today and even though it's a long-ish book, they were completely engrossed in it and laughed and laughed at the end. It is such a wonderful book all about what happens in the jungle when an elephant sneezes. The rhyming is fantastic and it's even fun to use different animal voices as you read it...i.e. bees...more
"Stand Back," Said The Elephant, "I'm Going To Sneeze!" was a great book. This book can be used in a lesson about rhyming words. The children can write the ryhming words they or clap when they hear them. Writing the words on the board as they are found and later finding the ending that makes them ryhme is another hands on idea. I believe it is an attention getter and the children will love a chance to be involved in the lesson.
This book was my absolute favorite when I was little as well as my mother's when she was growing up. A few years ago I went out of my way to find a copy of this book to give to my mother for Christmas because our copy had gotten lost somewhere along the way. I fully intend to have a copy on hand when my own children are old enough for bedtime stories.
Relyn
rated it
Recommends it for:
teachers, parents, kids
Recommended to Relyn by:
Kelly Schmitz
Shelves:
lawsonland
This is marvelous, wonderful, fantastic book. My friend Kelly loved this as a child and brought it out to use in our writing lessons. This is an excellent example of a cumulative tale and humor, among other things. I want a copy of my own to use with other classes. It's fantastic.
I think this was my favorite book as a kid. It was the one book I sought out to read to my kids. They weren't as impressed, perhaps it's the graphics that aren't as vibrant as today's books, but I love the rhyming, flow, and funny twist at the end.
I love this book! I've used it over and over again in story times. The rhyming text bounces along as the animals imagine what will happen if the elephant sneezes and beg him not to. Kids like the surprise ending too. Great story!
The was THE book of my childhood. I can't count the number of times I read it. I used it for a presentation of children's books in my high school speech class. It was held together with duck tape. I only wish I had it now.
My Mom read this book to me when I was a kid, and I love reading it to my children now. It's such a funny, engaging story, and . . . if you take the time to create voices for the characters, it is all the more fun. ;)
This wonderful piece of rhyming verse is reminiscent of Dr. Suess in its short phrasing and rhyming text. Wonderful fun to read aloud as the animals' reactions to coming sneeze are quite comical. Good book.
Wonderful "advanced" easy reader. Darling, funny illustrations and bright, imaginative verse. Love the vocabulary it contains (not to mention the fun homophone "Nothing's so sad as a bear that is bare").
It is a long rhyme, and quit funny but maybe a little to long for story time
Knowing the havoc it will cause, all the animals try to prevent the elephant from sneezing.
Knowing the havoc it will cause, all the animals try to prevent the elephant from sneezing.
A childhood favorite, that nobody could read better than my older sister, Heidi, who had the perfect excitable speech impediment. A must for every child.
love this book! it's a rhyming book and rather graphic in what happens to all the jungle animals when the elephant sneezes. highly recommended.
♣TuRtLe♣
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone
Recommended to ♣TuRtLe♣ by:
mom bought it when i was a kid
My favorite book to read growing up! I love the way the author described everything in such fine detail. Will read to my kids if I ever have any.
We got this book at the library and Van LOVED it! We read it every night we had it out on loan. I am thinking I will have to go find it and buy it.
This was one of my favorite books when I was a kid, and I've kept my copy all these years in preperation for when I will read it to my kids.
I always read this one to my kids in the classroom when I taught! They adored it! I met the author a couple years ago...sweet lady!
"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" by Patricia Thomas is a doozy of a title. But it gets to the heart of this silly rhyming story. An elephant is having a bad case of sneezes and they are causing no end of trouble for the other animals.
The winning element for me on this story is the artwork. The illustrations are just the right combination of realistic and ridiculous. Take for instance the very surprised zebra watching his black stripes fly in...more
The winning element for me on this story is the artwork. The illustrations are just the right combination of realistic and ridiculous. Take for instance the very surprised zebra watching his black stripes fly in...more
This was one of my favorites as a kid. I just found it in a box my mom sent me. Love it.
Jonny Robot
marked it as to-read
OMG, This was seriously the book I would ask to be read EVERY NIGHT as a child. I love this book!
The Greatest Children's Book Ever! But you have to read it using different voices!!! :-)
Very funny, but some of the rhythms were awkward to work out, which was distracting.
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Patricia Thomas is the author of Firefly Mountain; There Are Rocks in Socks, Said the Ox to the Fox; The One-and-Only, Super-Duper, Golly-Whopper, Jim Dandy, Really Handy Clock Tock Stopper; and Stand Back, Said the Elephant, Im Going to Sneeze, featured on the PBS Storytime series. Thomas graduated from Penn State University and has worked as a writer and editor in practically every area of the a...more
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