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Reviewed by:
  • The Mammoth Academy
  • Jeanette Hulick
Layton, Neal; The Mammoth Academy; written and illus. by Neal Layton. Holt, 2008; [160p] ISBN 978-0-8050-8708-6 $16.95 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 2–4

“There comes a point in a young mammoth’s life when it’s time to grow up a little bit and start school,” so it’s off to the Mammoth Academy for woolly buddies Oscar and Arabella, where they make new friends (Oscar pals up with Fox, while Arabella befriends Prunella, an unspecified Ice Age rodent), learn new things (such as geography and skiing), and solve the mystery of the oranges gone missing from the school’s kitchen (Ice Age humans have been raiding the larder). This last discovery, made by Oscar and Fox, nearly leads to disaster, as the grunting humans capture the pair and then lead a full-scale invasion on the Academy (roasted mammoth is apparently a human culinary delight), but fortunately the feeble humans are no match for Oscar and Fox. Kids looking for a zippy light read will find just what they desire in this silly British import; the contrast between the proper British school sensibility and Ice Age primitiveness is particularly humorous. Layton effectively [End Page 83] integrates numerous lively black-and-white illustrations into the text, which provide both further amusement and added ballast for the sort of young readers who run screaming from text-heavy pages. Sketchy, scribbly lines emphasize the hairiness of the Ice Age critters, while the jaunty school caps and crisper architectural features of the Academy play up the academy atmosphere. Oscar is especially endearing in his shaggy untidiness and seeming inability to keep his school things neat (while Arabella’s school map remains pristine, Oscar’s is crumpled, torn, and ink-stained). The oddball premise, plentiful pictures, and general goofiness of this title will certainly appeal to young readers, both reluctant and otherwise.

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