[ 책 소개 ]

* Huffington Post Honor Book for Best in Kindness 수상도서
* Bank Street Best Book of the Year
* NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Charlotte Huck Honor 수상도서
* CCBC (Cooperative Children’s Book Center) Choice Book
* CBC Children's Choice Book Award Finalist
* Cybils Award Finalist
* Kansas State Reading Circle List PrimaryTitle
* MSTA Reading Circle List
* Washington State Scandiuzzi Children's Book Award Finalist


영미권에서 큰 명성을 얻고 있는 유태은 작가의 베스트셀러 그림책입니다. 전 세계12개국에서 번역서가 출간되었으며, 우리나라에는 "코끼리는 절대 안 돼!"라는 제목으로 번역서가 출간되었습니다.

내 반려동물은 귀여운 코끼리예요
방 안에서 아이와 함께 그림책을 보는 반려동물은 바로 코끼리입니다. 회색빛 아담한 몸집에 그림붓처럼 생긴 꼬리, 작은 손수건처럼 넓적하고 얇은 귀, 꼬물꼬물 움직이는 긴 코까지 어느 하나 사랑스럽지 않은 구석이 없습니다. 하지만 함께 밖을 내다보는 둘의 표정은 어딘지 모르게 시큰둥해 보이고, 바람에 날리는 창밖의 낙엽마저 쓸쓸해 보입니다.

아이와 코끼리는 친구들과 어울릴 수 없습니다. 왜냐하면 아무도 코끼리를 키우지 않기 때문입니다. 사람들은 코끼리가 함께하기 얼마나 좋은 반려동물인지 모르는 것 같습니다. 같이 산책을 하다 비가 오면 긴 코로 우산도 들어 주는 상냥한 친구인데 말입니다.

어느 날 아이는 귀여운 코끼리와 함께 반려동물 모임에갑니다. 모두 다 모이는 날이기 때문에 한껏 기대를 했지요. 그런데 모임 장소에 도착했을 때 둘을 반기는 것은 문 앞에 적혀 있는 글입니다. “코끼리는 절대 안 돼!” 심지어 코끼리 그림을 그려넣고는 엑스 표시까지 해놨네요. 실망한 아이와 코끼리는 그냥 돌아서고 맙니다. 그리고 길모퉁이에 다다랐을 때 스컹크와 함께 있는 소녀를 만나게 됩니다. 애완동물로 스컹크를 키우다니! 소녀는 코끼리와 아이를 놀라운 곳으로 데려갑니다. 그곳에는...



[ 미국 주요 매체의 이 책에 대한 평가 ]


NewYork Times Book Review: 리사 맨체프의 빛나는, 똑똑한, 세상을 꼬집는 이야기. 우리 사는 세상 가운데 이런 평화로운 왕국을 상상해 보자. 얼마나 멋진 그림책인가. 풍부한 질감이 융합된 드로잉과 컴퓨터 작업으로 마무리한 라이노컷 아트 등 여러 방식이 다채롭게 어우러진 유태은 작가의 친숙하면서도 따뜻한 그림이 특히 인상적이다.


ALA Booklist(미국도서관협회) Review: 쓸쓸해진 소년과 작은 코끼리가 터덜터덜 걷는 장면은 어두운 파랑, 검정, 청록색으로 표현된 배경과 대비되어 더욱 눈에 띈다. …… 이야기는 사소하지만 명확한 메시지가 좋고, 밝은 윤곽선과 풍부한 색채가 명랑하게 어우러진 목판 그림은 아이들과 반려동물의 움직임을 생생하게 보여 준다. 가끔 소외된 느낌을 받을 수 있는 아이들에게 위로를 건네는 그림책이다.


Kirkus Review: 반려동물 모임에 들어가지 못한 소년과 그의 작은 코끼리는 특별한 반려동물을 키우는 다른 아이들과 친구가 된다. 1인칭 시점의 서사는 조용하고 관조적인 느낌이다. …… 빗방울, 일렁거리는 검은 우산들과 함께 어두운 청록색의 도시 풍경이 리놀륨 판화 방식으로 표현되었다. 백인 소년, 소년의 반려동물(이 둘은 빨간색 스카프를 함께 하고 있다), 그리고 아프리카 계 미국인 소녀 이 셋은 황량한 도시 풍경 속 밝은 장소에 존재한다. …… 유태은 작가가 그린 마지막 장면은 ??모두 다 들어오세요!??라는 메시지와 함께 여러 인종과 문화의 조화를 묘사한다. 달콤하고 긍정적인 그림책이다.






[ 관련 동영상 보기 ]

▶

[ 서지 정보 ]

Hardcover: 32 pages
ISBN-10: 1481416472
ISBN-13: 978-1481416474
책 크기: 26.1 cm x 23.8 cm



[ 서지 정보 ]

Book Description
“A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale.” - The New York Times Book Review

Sold in twelve countries!

When the local Pet Club won’t admit a boy’s tiny pet elephant, he finds a solution—one that involves all kinds of unusual animals in this sweet and adorable picture book.

Today is Pet Club day. There will be cats and dogs and fish, but strictly no elephants are allowed. The Pet Club doesn’t understand that pets come in all shapes and sizes, just like friends. Now it is time for a boy and his tiny pet elephant to show them what it means to be a true friend.

Imaginative and lyrical, this sweet story captures the magic of friendship and the joy of having a pet.


School Library Journal
It's Pet Club Day, and the sign on the door at #17 clearly states, "Strictly NO Elephants." Current members treasure their birds, fish, cats, and dogs, but a young boy taking a walk with his tiny elephant, sharing an umbrella in a cool fall rain, sees no welcome for his friend, so he simply gives his usual support. "That's what friends do - lift each other over the cracks…brave the scary things for you." The boy and his elephant meet a girl with a skunk, who were also excluded from the Pet Club meeting, and decide to start a club of their own, one in which all are welcome. Friends "never leave anyone behind." Illustrations emphasize the warmth of this message with Photoshop, block prints, and pencil in color spreads alternated with smaller vignettes highlighting the expressions of the children and their pets. VERDICT With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story. A solid general purchase for libraries and classrooms.


Kirkus Review
After a little boy and his tiny elephant are barred from the Pet Club, they befriend other children with unusual pets.
The first-person narrative has a quiet, contemplative feel: “The trouble with having a tiny elephant for a pet is that you never quite fit in. / No one else has an elephant.” His pet is shy of sidewalk cracks: “I always go back and help him over. That’s what friends do: lift each other over the cracks.” Embodying dejection after the two turn from that large, titular sign on the door, a double-page spread - a Photoshop-augmented linoleum block print - depicts a dark teal cityscape slashed with raindrops and bobbing with black umbrellas. The Caucasian boy, his pet (in matching red scarves), and a little African-American girl in cornrows and a red-and-orange striped dress are the bright spots in this poignant tableau. Turns out that this girl - a pet skunk curled on her lap - has been turned away too. “He doesn’t stink,” she says. “No, he doesn’t,” concurs the boy and then suggests, “What if we start our own club?” Observant children will spot a porcupine, penguin, and giraffe peering from brownstone windows along the way; they and their children join others with equally exotic pets. Yoo’s concluding scenes depict a treehouse occupation (its restrictive message changed to “ALL ARE WELCOME”) and multiethnic, multispecies harmony. Sweet and affirming.


Publishers Weekly
Having a tiny elephant for a pet sounds idyllic, but a boy discovers that the local Pet Club doesn’t allow them; a stern girl points at a “Strictly No Elephants” sign. Heading home in the rain, the boy and his elephant spot a girl with her skunk. “They don’t want us to play with them either,” she says. Joined by other owners of unexpected pets - giraffes, armadillos, even a small narwhal in a bowl - they make their own club with its own sign: “All Are Welcome.” In her first picture book, Mantchev (Ticker) examines true friendship, sprinkling observations about the behavior of boy and elephant throughout (“He doesn’t like the cracks in the sidewalk much. I always go back and help him over”) and punctuating them with the refrain, “Because that’s what friends do.” Yoo’s (Hands Say Love) linoleum block prints of brick buildings and quiet sidewalks have the softness and warmth of a favorite blanket. It’s a message book about exclusion with an oh-so-gentle lead-in for discussion.


School Library Journal
It’s Pet Club Day, and the sign on the door at #17 clearly states, “Strictly NO Elephants.” Current members treasure their birds, fish, cats, and dogs, but a young boy taking a walk with his tiny elephant, sharing an umbrella in a cool fall rain, sees no welcome for his friend, so he simply gives his usual support. “That’s what friends do - lift each other over the cracks…brave the scary things for you.” The boy and his elephant meet a girl with a skunk, who were also excluded from the Pet Club meeting, and decide to start a club of their own, one in which all are welcome. Friends “never leave anyone behind.” Illustrations emphasize the warmth of this message with Photoshop, block prints, and pencil in color spreads alternated with smaller vignettes highlighting the expressions of the children and their pets. VERDICT With a gentle message of inclusion and helping others, this title reaches beyond a mere friendship story. A solid general purchase for libraries and classrooms.


Booklist
“The trouble with having a tiny elephant for a pet is that you never quite fit in,” says a little boy with a tiny pet elephant. The Pet Club won’t let him in, and an angry sign - “Strictly No Elephants” - explains why. Forlorn, the boy and little elephant stumble on, the boy’s warm-toned shirt popping against the background of people in dark blues, blacks, and teal. They find another outcast, a little girl with a skunk, and they decide to start their own club. Soon, owners with other unusual pets join them: a girl with a giraffe, a boy with a hedgehog, even a kid with a tiny narwhal in a glass bowl! Eagle-eyed little ones will notice new friends before they make their way to the pet parade. Though the story is slight, the clear message of inclusion is a good one, and the cheerful, lightly mottled block-print illustrations, with bright outlines and in a rich palette, exude lively motion among the children and their pets. Heartening, particularly for kids who often feel left out.



The New York Times Book Review
A sunny, smart, tongue-in-cheek tale by Lisa Mantchev. . . . How nice . . . to imagine such a peacable kingdom in our midst, especially as depicted in Taeeun Yoo's intimate, warmly rounded and colored mixed-media illustrations--a richly textured meld of drawing and linocut art finished off in the Photoshop blender.