The Elephant and the Sea
by Ed Vere; illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Doubleday    32 pp.
5/24    9780525580904    $18.99
Library ed.  9780525580911    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780525580928    $10.99

In a rousing adventure dedicated to the author’s grandfather, who “sailed the seven seas,” readers meet Gabriel, an elderly elephant who lives with his sea cat, Milou. Gabriel, whose face has “as many lines as the sea has waves,” lives by the harbor, remembering the old days. Vere then rewinds the clock to visit Gabriel’s boyhood, during which he revered the crew of creatures who worked on the lifeboat. (No humans here. All characters are anthropomorphized animals.) They tell Gabriel to return when he’s older, but when he does, he’s too large to fit in the boat. Disappointed but undeterred, he constructs his own lifeboat, built “for strength. Built for him!” In this boat, Gabriel saves a fleet during a disastrous storm. Vivid copper and rose colors dominate the palette, punctuated by cool blues and grays. Vere animates the story with seafaring language (“Heave away, haul away, heave-ho, heave-HO!”) and bustling verbs (“The wind whipped and whistled. The waves turned into giants, tumbling, lashing, and crashing”). Vere describes Gabriel’s determination to build a boat that can carry him as “an important thought…There is only one thing I want to do…So I will do it!” The gentle reminder to readers to pursue their passions, no matter the odds against them, makes this endearing tale an inspiring one.

From the July/August 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.