Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Monkey and Elephant's Worst Fight Ever!
Picture Book
For ages 4 to 6
Random House, 2011 ISBN: 978-0375857171
Monkey has made a surprise gift for his best friend, Elephant, and he is taking it over to Elephant’s house. When he gets to Elephant’s house, and before he can knock on the door, Monkey sees through the window that Elephant is having a costume party. Monkey is hurt and upset. He loves costume parties. “Why wasn’t I invited to the costume party?” he asks.
As so often happens, Monkey’s hurt feelings change into angry feelings, and he decides to have his revenge on his former best friend. While Elephant is enjoying his party, Monkey puts Elephant’s favorite toys into the freezer. Not surprisingly, Elephant is appalled when he sees what Monkey has done. Monkey is his best friend, why would he do such a thing? Elephant, who is now well and truly angry, retaliates, and soon a state of “war” exists between the two former friends. Of course, Monkey and Elephant are miserable, but so is everyone else who lives on the Island. What can they do to get Monkey and Elephant to talk to each other in a rational manner?
There are very few close friendships that don’t, on occasion, develop problems. Often the disagreements arise because of a misunderstanding, which is what happens with Monkey and Elephant in this book. With humor and wonderful illustrations, Mike Townsend shows young readers how two best friends almost lose a precious friendship when they let a disagreement get out of hand.
