How to Catch an Elephant

by Amy Schwartz

Here's the secret. Follow your uncle's advice and take to the jungle "3 cakes, 2 raisins, 1 telescope, and a pair of tweezers." Find a tree and wait for an elephant. If the elephant is angry, obstreperous, and hungry...hold on, be brave--things are not always what they seem.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Food

40 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Amy Schwartz is the author and illustrator of many picture books for children, including Begin at the Beginning; Things I Learned in Second Grade; Bea and Mr. Jones, a Reading Rainbow feature; What James Likes Best, recipient of the 2004 Charlotte Zolotow Award; and a glorious day. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband Leonard S. Marcus, and their son, Jacob.

Reviews

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't even know what just happened to me.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this story. It has a clever folktale quality, but at the expense of the elephant being teased. The ending bothered me too since the story doesn't end well for the elephant.

[Jocelyn Boop]

Why I chose this book:
I chose this book because the students will be very interested in the story and pictures about getting an elephant on an airplane from Africa to the writer’s home.

What I liked about the book:
I liked the book because it’s an adventure but also shows that animals should stay in their own habitats.

How I would use this book in a future classroom:
I would use this book as part of a unit on communities or as part of the classroom library.

[Beverly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very silly!

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute concept but felt a bit flat. The young girl heads out into the jungle to catch an elephant and uses the items on her list to do so.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a few favorite books to read to any grandchild I have. This is a fun one...especially when they understand what is happening with the instrument used.

[Miss Janis the Storytime Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun, though I actually prefer "How to Find an Elephant" by Banks (the art is amazing in that one, and the story is fun). But, this is silly and older PreKs had a blast with it.

[Michelle Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overview: “Three cakes, 2 raisins, 1 telescope, and a pair of tweezers. That’s what you need to catch an elephant.” This is an amazing story of how a little girl catches an elephant with the items mentioned above!

Mommy Bookworm’s Thoughts: This book is full of bright, vibrant illustrations, and is quite fun to read – especially if you act out the elephant’s tantrums! Once again, there is a conflict online about what age group it’s appropriate for. I believe that younger children (3-5) would enjoy it because of the illustrations & actions, but the actual reading level would be for older children (5-8). It’s obviously just a fun book. There’s not really a lesson to be learned by it (but that’s okay because not all books have to have lessons)!!

Dahlia Bookworm’s Thoughts (11 years old): I liked the book, and it was funny because you needed weird things to catch an elephant. I liked the part where the girl made the elephant smaller & it stayed small. I can read it easily by myself. I would recommend it to kids my age and younger because it’s a funny story.

Daisy Bookworm’s Thoughts (7 years old): I like the story because her uncle tells her that elephants go crazy about raisins & they hate cake. I like that the elephant only sucked up the raisins & then went wild because there were no more raisins. I like the pictures. I think it was a good story. It was funny because the elephant shrunk when she looked through the wrong side of the telescope. I would recommend this to kids my age & kids older & younger too.

[Cassandra Gelvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun with optics! Or something!

This is just weird. I think I had heard this story before, maybe in a shorter version like a joke. Basically, it says that in order to catch an elephant, you need cakes, raisins, a telescope, and a pair of tweezers. Because apparently, elephants love raisins but hate cake. Like the existence of cake just makes them angry. This is the weirdest, most surreal book. After some antics with cake and raisins, you're supposed to look through the telescope backwards so the elephant is tiny, and then pick it up with the tweezers. And that's it. Okay...? It's basically a long, drawn-out illustration of a surreal joke. It's not very funny. There's no point, no plot, and no real message. And the drawings are odd. It's one of those books where the style looks like something the average person could learn to draw in a month or two. It's very strange.

For more children's book reviews, see my website at http://www.drttmk.com.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, so cute! My five-year-old picked this book out at the library and read it to herself at home. Every few pages, she would stop and giggle. At the end of the book, she started laughing with such delight that I had to stop cooking dinner and come and find out what was going on (she had guessed what the tweezers were for). I loved that she had such a great experience discovering a book for herself. She read this book to my friend and to both her grandmothers over the phone with such expression... a very fun read-aloud for children and storytime. I only wish the illustrations were...better.

[Kathy Ellen Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute!
The language is awesome, playful, and I laughed out loud when I found out how the elephant ended up being caught! Children will love the repetition, and, I'm sure, saying,
"Elephants are CRAZY about raisins!"

Haiku Review:
First, you'll need raisins.
They are crazy about them,
but they don't like cake!

[Peggy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! Stomp! Stomp! Stomp! Stamp! Stamp! Stamp! I mean really, elephants love raisins and they hate cake! Step by step instructions on how to catch an elephant are just down right funny, if not a little dangerous.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book and it has wonderful body movements to have the kids do with you but the end result on how to catch an elephant might get lost on little ones
Provides instructions for using such necessary tools as cakes, raisins, tweezers, and a telescope to catch an elephant.

[Bethany Dinger · Rating 5 out of 5]

I teach preschoolers and we LOVELOVELOVE this book. It's been on my shelf for 5 years and its always a favorite. Children who've left
the program come back to visit and always ask to read the elephant book!

[KarenMLISt · Rating 4 out of 5]

She dedicates this book "To my fsther...who told me this story." After you read it, you can only imagine what a fun, sweet daddy he must have been. Great example of using one's imagination to solve a problem in the funnest of ways!

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather cute and kooky story of a very unorthodox way to catch an elephant using raisins and cake. Asher (5 y.o.) ended up being able to read this story outloud to Dex (2 y.o.). They both enjoyed it a lot.

Simple, but fun illustrations.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a little whimsical for my taste but I could see my preschoolers doing the movements. A little girl sets out on an adventure to catch an elephant using rains, a telescope, and cake. Will she succeed?

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute, silly story. Great use of verbs describing the elephant's actions.

[M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now I want to try to catch an elephant using three cakes, two raisins and a telescope.

[C.M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique story with a clever, unexpected ending. My little boy loved it, too.

[Paige Spicer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really didn't enjoy this story at all. It didn't make sense and the pictures were not appealing.

[Marisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun to read to younger kids!