The Elephant Wish by Lou Berger, illustrated by Ana Juan.

In this surreal story, Eliza Prattlebottom makes a wish at her eighth birthday party that an elephant will come and take her away.  Eliza’s wish comes true and Cousin Floyd, a very large elephant, carries her away to live with the elephants in the jungle.  Cousin Floyd is only noticed by 97-year-old Adele who has perfect posture and once as a girl herself knew Cousin Floyd.  Eliza’s family mourns her being gone, thinking of their daughter often.  Adele decides that she needs to return to the elephants herself and heads off to the jungle to demand that Eliza return home and she herself be watched over by Cousin Floyd.  This book captures the desire to remain a child forever.

Berger’s language is a joy to read aloud, curving and moving as it is read.  It is filled with small gems of prose that evoke further depth in the text.  Here is one of my favorite passages:

Now, you might think that a ninety-seven-year-old woman pulling a wagon with a two-hundred-year-old dog in it would move very slowly.  But Adelle was moving at the speed of memory.

Berger captures the magical and fantastical elements of childhood and imagination beautifully in his text.  At the same time, Juan’s illustrations perfectly embody that same feeling of myth, strangeness, and dream.  Her pictures are often surrounded by the thoughts of the characters being depicted, adding an even further dream-like quality to them. 

This rather quirky and unusual picture book makes a great read aloud to older elementary students who may themselves be struggling with leaving childhood behind and the larger implications of growing up.  Appropriate for ages 6-9.

The Day Leo Said I Hate You! by Robie H. Harris, illustrated by Molly Bang.

Pair the storytelling skill of Harris with the illustrations of Bang and you really can’t go wrong!  Leo is not having a good day.  Each thing he does, his mother seems to be right there telling him, NO!  Finally, Leo has had enough and storms off to his room.  When he gets there, he draws a mean picture of his mother on his bedroom wall.  His mother comes in and tells him NO!  Leo is so very very angry that he shouts with all of his might I HATE YOU!  at his mother.  Though he doesn’t mean it all at, he now has to deal with the fact he has said something so awful to his mother.

Anger is such an important thing for children to understand: their own anger, how their words and actions effect others, and appropriate ways to express their feelings.  Harris captures the inner turmoil of an angry child perfectly without extra drama added in.  The writing is clear, concise and very emotional.  The writing that follows Leo’s outburst is warm, calming and filled with an understanding for what just happened.  It is the ideal contrast to the heat and speed of what happens, allowing readers to ride that emotional rollercoaster with Leo.

Bang’s illustrations capture the mood of the text as it moves from frenetic emotion to calm.  Colors move from oranges through to deep purple and reds and resolve with bright yellows and deep blues.  Beautifully done in her collage style, Bang captures a mother and son who could be of almost any ethnicity.

Highly recommended, this picture book should be paired with Mean Soup by Betsy Everitt and When Sophie Gets Angry — Really, Really Angry by Molly Bang for a real emotional set of stories!  Appropriate for ages 3-6.