Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary By Julie Larios

Have you ever seen a yellow elephant, glowing in the jungle sun?
Have you seen a green frog--splash!--turn blue?
Or a red donkey throw a red-hot tantrum?
In this bright bestiary, poet Julie Larios and painter Julie Paschkis cast a menagerie of animals in brilliantly unexpected hues--encouraging us to see the familiar in surprising new ways.
Yellow Elephant: A Bright Bestiary

Julie Larios Þ 5 Read & Download

The beautiful illustrations caught my eye before the poetry pulled me in. However as soon as I read “Red Donkey” I was hooked, the humor in the pages as well as a childlike sensibility makes these poems eminently readable. The bright and evocative illustrations with fascinate younger children while the poems lend themselves to easy memorization. Paschkis’ choice of colors for each animal in the bright bestiary is unexpected but inspired. A red donkey that throws a red-hot temper tantrum, a yellow elephant dancing in the jungle sun are among the other animals in the bright bestiary.
English 3.5

Very strong art with pretty good children's poetry. For poetry that doesn't rely upon rhyming for kids, this is really good. Overall, as either a picture book or poetry book, it's ok.

The Red Donkey poem was by far the best!

Borrow it from the library. English Intricate, appealing illustrations pair with accessible, rhythmic poems to explore colors, sounds, and word play. Loads of detail and vocabulary in very few words/pages, and the animals are intriguing. English Bright colorful illustrations accompany wonderful poetry, poetry with sounds and images that are perfect for each poem. A green frog which becomes blue in water, a red donkey, a tan lion, a black fish, and a gold finch are only a few of the animals included in this great poetry collection. English I checked this out because of my current project of writing (and hopefully illustrating) a book of animal poems. I didn't find the poetry particularly magnetic, but I quite like the illustrations.

I was amused that in the author/illustrator bios on the back flap, each of them gave the names of their pets but not their husbands. English

I have a long affection for children’s picture books, despite having no children. When I saw a review on this and a small sample of the artwork, I was motivated to find out more.

A sort of variation on the beloved “Color Kittens,” this combines a color and a familiar animal, sometimes in unusual combinations.



Each picture is accompanied by a poem, with a strip of colorful detail.





I think the vivid colors will work for young eyes, as well as the crisp lines.





Occasionally it is stylized enough that it may be less accessible, but the variety in style means some pictures should still work well.





I’m in love with the colorful artwork. I’d love to have a a group of these as prints. It even sent me to Paschkis’ site to learn more about her work. Alas: no prints of these for sale.


Cross posted at my blog, with additional pictures: https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2017/... English Sometimes when I'm at the library I grab books that might be a little above my 2-year old's level, because I want to read them so much. This book was one of those instances. So, imagine my delight when she started to request it several times a day! I'm excited to have a child who enjoys poetry, even when it's free verse.

Then again, how could she not? This book is gorgeous. It has colorful, textured illustrations featuring a different animal on each page. And for each animal, there is also an awesome poem, full of great poetic elements. The word play is great--I love reading them aloud to my little girl.

It feels pretty sophisticated for a children's poetry volume. And I like that best of all. English This colorful picture book about a variety of animals is told in free verse poetry. This is a bestiary. Each set of pages provides an animal that is a particular color on the right hand side. On the left is a brief poem that describes the animal and all of their antics. This is a great book for preschool or kindergartners! It offers various animals which kids always love. It also presents an opportunity to review their colors while introducing them to poetry.

The artwork is bright and fanciful. The animals jump off of the page (especially the frog). This is a great way to bring poetry to the youngest of our students. Too often we expect these early readers to stick to sentences structure when really the focus should be on the simple words and their phonetics. If that is the case, why not offer them so poetry? English This picture poetry book is for children ages 5-10. I think younger children will appreciate the focus on animals and colors right off the bat. As they grow up they may understand and appreciate the amazing adjectives used to describe the animals and their color. The poems are short and use color to capture the emotions of the animals. It is very easy to smile while reading this book.

I enjoyed the paintings. They were structured very interestingly in a box. They are not a typical landscape view like in many other children’s books. I would keep this book around for read alongs, teaching colors, and pointing out the importance of adjectives to older students.
English

Red clay road.
Red donkey braying.
He has a red temper.
He's probably saying,
This load is too heavy.
I'm hungry.
My feet hurt!
I'm tired!
I'm hot!
It's
not
fair!
Red donkey sits down.
Someone shouts, Come!
But he won't come.
Red donkey tantrum.