Monkey and Elephant are really good friends but one day when Elephant is headed over to Monkey's house with a special surprise gift, he gets his feelings hurt when he sees everyone inside Monkey's house having a surprise party without him. We all know how it feels to be left out and instead of telling Monkey how he feels, Elephant decides to get revenge. A battle ensues and eventually everyone on the island is feeling a bit unsafe. The inhabitants get together and devise a plan to get Elephant and Monkey to work things out. There is a hint of Elephant and Piggie a la Mo Willems in this story and the colors are bright and bold. Much of the dialogue is done with word bubbles so the story flows with a bit of a comic book flair. Energetic, colorful and filled with an important message about the importance of talking through a misunderstanding especially when your feelings and friendships are at stake. Ages 5-8
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Cupcakes cause problems between best friends, and no one is safe from the revenge! Elephant’s and Monkey’s neighbors launch Operation Sink of Swim to make the friends patch up the argument. When the friends are forced to start talking, they realize it was all a misunderstanding. Apologies and hugs bring things back to normal... almost. Children should be able to relate to the hurt feelings and how to make up with a friend.
Recommended by Beth Yankey, Librarian
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Monkey wants to present Elephant with a surprise gift, but he finds a costume party in progress. He runs away very upset, because he was not invited to the party. Monkey remembers his friendship with Elephant and begins to feel sad. The sadness turns into anger with a twist of revenge and a battle of mean tricks such as freezing favorite shared objects begins, so a war of one upmanship between Monkey and Elephant goes to extreme levels. The other animals make their own plan to stop this war called "Operation Sink or Swim." Read this book to find out whether Elephant and Monkey sink or swim.
40 pages 978-0375857171 Ages 3-7
Recommended by Christie Pierce, Librarian, Maryland, USA
