What to Do If an Elephant Stands on Your Foot (review)

What do you do if an elephant stands on your foot? "Keep calm. Panicking will only startle it." Of course, the child explorer to whom the narrator addresses this advice immediately panics. Panicking leads to running, which brings out the tigers, which means you should be very quiet, which naturally brings on a sneeze, which sends a rhino charging after the kid, and so on and so on. The poor kid in fact does everything that the narrator advises against, leading to a passel of animal near-attacks and a very frustrated narrator. Luckily, a few monkeys swing to the rescue and save the kid, but a final admonition from the narrator to apologize to an elephant without startling it leads to . . . you guessed it, another chase. Listeners will quickly catch on to the pleasantly predictable pattern of events and enjoy the anticipation and satisfaction that every page turn brings, as the kid reacts exactly the wrong (but natural) way in each new situation while the narrator's increasing vexation reaches comic proportions. Reynolds' zesty art builds both tension and slapstick humor as the child (dressed as a proper explorer with hat, multi-pocketed vest, and binoculars) sheds drops of sweat and runs in open-mouthed (but hilarious) terror and the ponderous, irritated, and sometimes hungry animals stir up clouds of dust or splashes of water in their ill-tempered pursuit. Reading this aloud will be a delight for reader and audience, and readers-aloud who aren't afraid of a little boisterous fun may want to get the kids to act this one out.