Great animal story for a read-aloud. Even though this story has been around for a while, kids will love it. Highly recommended for Grades K-5.

Date: 11/18/24
Attendees 52
Theme: Elephants
Introduction and announcements: Bread and Butter

Book one: I Broke My Trunk by Mo Willems

Song/rhyme/game one: Elephants have Wrinkles

Book two: Elephants by Grace Hansen

Song/rhyme/game two: Animal Freeze Dance by Kiboomers

Book three: “Stand back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze” by Patricia Thomas

Song/ rhyme/ game three: 5 Elephants

Activity: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com...

Too wordy for story time.

This was one of my favorite books when I was a young reader. The ridiculousness of an elephant's sneeze scaring the other animals, combined with the illustrations of the elephant trying to hold back the sneeze makes this a classic read-aloud.

This is a great rhyming book for kids in 1st and 2nd grade. Kindergartners will appreciate the silly story, too, but it may be too silly for 3rd grade.

If you need a giggle with the kids, read this one.

Oh my goodness. So funny, I truly did laugh out loud. The pictures are funny enough for toddlers to enjoy, the rollicking rhyme will encourage an independent reader to read this over and over, the pictures of the animals reacting to the elephant's announcement are vividly both true to the animals and true to the humor, there are a lot of different animals to meet, and the two-part ending packs a punch neither to be expected nor soon-forgotten.

As you can see by reading this review, I'm still breathless & giddy. I will read it again before I return it to the library and keep it on my to-read-again list for later, too. And I will try to find more by author and illustrator (though it's an older book, and maybe their other stuff is gone). Do try to get this from your library before it's culled!
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I would love to read this aloud to a little. Or, even better, hear an 8 read it to a 5. All those juicy words, arranged in fun rhymes and a joyous rhythm!

So, what's even worse than an elephant's sneeze, that phenomon which blows the stripes off the zebra and the scales off the fish?

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").

When I found this as a kid, it was hands down the funniest thing I’d ever read. I laughed until I couldn’t breathe. I read it years later and it was still hilarious.

This is the first book I ever remember hearing read to me (by my mom!). Several years later I stormed out of my first storytime at the public library, since I'd already heard the book so many times I could recite it from memory (which, by the way, I still can!).

I feel so sorry for the animals who ever have to live with this particular elephants. Although he seems like he is friendly and maybe a great guy down in heart he is so unpredictable with his responses to the world around him that he ends up causing more problems than can ever be expected. Sounds like some of us right?

This is a great book and its rhyming words will please the ear of young children. Unfortunately it is a bit on the longish side so the youngest of children may not find it as entertaining as the older children although the illustrations can lead to some interesting laughs.

A definite favorite that should be out on more shelves....

This is a hilarious book that has great rhymes.

Genre: Children's Picture Book - Fiction
Ages: PreK-3rd

This is a book about an elephant who causes panic in the neighborhood with his warning that he is about to sneeze. The animals in the book hilariously recount the horror and trauma they suffered the last time he sneezed. There are many reasons that I love this book. The rhymes and really fun to read aloud
"we lost every feather.
We didn't know whether
We'd ever get back together." (p. 8)
But the best part is the illustrations of the havoc wrought by the elephant. The crocodile's snout was turned inside out, the bees lost their stings, and the fish lost their scales.
In this pandemic age, it's a great way to remind children to cover their mouths!

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, that the same bad things happened as when he sneezed (the zebra lost his stripes, the bear lost his hair, etc.) One thing I noticed is that the text is rhyming—and I didn’t mind it. (Usually I do.)