The Elephant & The Beaver

The Elephant & The Beaver – book review

When Orion Books asked if we’d like to review a picture book by Keith Lemon I really wasn’t sure what to expect.  Would this be suitable reading material for a virtually 5-year-old Monkey?  Let me share my thoughts on The Beaver & The Elephant which is written and illustrated by Lemon.

The Beaver & The Elephant

The Beaver & The Elephant is a 58 page hardback picture book containing three different stories – The Beaver and the Elephant go shopping for shoes, The Beaver and the Elephant go on holiday and The Beaver and the Elephant at Christmas.

The Beaver & The Elephant

 

Monkey loves this book – instant hit.  It doesn’t matter to him that he has no idea what Cuban Heels, who Keith Lemon or Emma Bunton are (Elephant is her biggest fan), he giggles every time we read the stories from The Elephant & The Beaver.

Elephant and Beaver are best friends who share a house in London.  Monkey’s favourite story is the one where the best friends go on holiday together.  Their landlord Mr Sweaty Fox! has just returned from Mauritius.

Mummy have you been to Mauritius?  Yes, Monkey, in fact Mummy and Daddy have both been there, just not together (that’s a whole different story!), it’s an island in the Indian Ocean, a long way away.  Oh ok.  Poor Beaver can’t pronounce Mauritius which had Monkey giggling.  Anyway, the friends decide they deserve a holiday and off they fly, to Mauritius.

The Elephant & The Beaver

 

Mummy, Elephant and Beaver have got Trunki cases just like me!  The mix of photographs, drawings and punchy text work really well in this book.  Keith pops up briefly in each story and there is a moral to every tale.

I’m really lucky that Monkey is very good when it comes to applying sun cream.  He knows it’s necessary and never creates a fuss when it’s needed.  He knew that Elephant was being really silly, going on holiday and not wearing any!

The Elephant & The Beaver

The story explains the consequences of not looking after your skin in the sun, in a fun way that children will understand.

The Elephant & The Beaver has been a bit of a revelation really.  We don’t have any books like it and Monkey has loved seeing what the best friends get up to.  I’m sure older children will find it entertaining too.

Normally priced at £9.99, The Elephant & The Beaver is currently on special offer over on Amazon for £4.45!

disclaimer: we were sent this book in exchange for an honest review

 

 

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