The Elephant's Airplane and Other Machines (Read-To/Primary Reading Books)

by Anne-Marie Dalmais, Doris Susan Smith (Illustrator)

A racoon builds a variety of unusual vehicles for his animal friends.

Genres: Childrens

43 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1984

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on OpenLibrary since it is (to my knowledge) out of print:
https://archive.org/details/elephants...

I wanted to read this because it is illustrated by Doris Susan Smith, who also illustrated one of my favourite picture books, House by Mouse by George Mendoza.

This book is in a similar vein: a clever animal (in this case, a racoon) designs and builds things (in this case, vehicles) for a bunch of different animals with specific requirements. One of the cool things about House by Mouse is that the various houses are shown with cut-aways so you can see inside. This book doesn't have that, although I suppose it would be difficult to do with vehicles. The illustration is lovely, but the book isn't quite as magical as House by Mouse. Still, it's definitely worth reading and would be great fun for a kid who likes things that go!

[Kt Roth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative with great pictures

[Sasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was creative and yet, bland. I lost interest quickly. If you like the idea of a raccoon who tinkers and makes cool machines, this is for you.