Yellow Elephant; A Bright Bestiary

Larios, Julie. 2006. YELLOW ELEPHANT; A BRIGHT BESTIARY. Ill. by Julie Paschkis. San Diego: Harcourt. ISBN 0152054227 [Suggested Grade Levels K-3]

REVIEW
Larios offers a kind of BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR book of fourteen color-animal poems full of metaphor and description. The various animals including, donkey, gull, finch, giraffe, cat, turtle, and more are depicted through the lens of one basic color each such as red, blue, orange, but also in silver, gold, and pink. This provides a fresh way of looking at animal attributes in creative, alliterative ways. And Paschkis’s illustrations are beautifully designed and eye-catching. The design of the book is pleasing with one page for the poem and the opposing page featuring the corresponding illustration of the animal featured in the poem. The poem’s language also focuses on elements of color and mood in depicting the animals in a way that invites children to visualize their personalities.

CONNECTIONS
Read these poems aloud and invite children to look for the color in other animals and objects.

Children can participate in creating a display gathering items to like colors— for example, everything purple—and then finding or creating a “purple” poem.

RELATED BOOKS
Other books of color poetry:
O’Neill, Mary. HAILSTONES AND HALIBUT BONES. ISBN 0385410786
Yolen, Jane. COLOR ME A RHYME: NATURE POEMS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. ISBN 1590781724

Parallel animal/color book:
Martin, Bill Jr. BROWN BEAR, BROWN BEAR. ISBN 0805047905



By Sylvia M. Vardell