Everbody has to run away because [spoiler alert] the elephant was going to sneeze. Was that a magic world? How did every single zebra stripe go bye-bye and his mouth turned rightside out?

If we could give it a thousand stars we would. My Aunt Jo gave Emily this book when she was a baby and it is our favorite book. I know it by heart and we've read it thousands of times and still giggle and laugh every single time!!! One of the most special memories Emily and I will always have....Aunt Jo gave me the best gift anyone could have given. It was never meant to be just a book :-)....so smart and thoughtful Aunt Jo!!!!

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. Then out jumps a mouse who scares the sneeze right out of the elephant. Unfortunately for the animals, the result is more visual mayhem--stripes and spots flying, giraffes bent in halfs. This story lends itself to multiple voices and a highly dramatic delivery!Amusing illustrations in pen and ink with two-color printing and a rhyme pattern that is fresh and appealing for the inevitable multiple performances.

This was my absolute FAVORITE book as a child. My daddy read it almost every night! My copy was lost in daddy's divorce. I found a copy in a thrift store when I was browsing on my lunch break. It now has a place of honor on my bookshelf.