What can I say?

Sprout is very, very interested in elephants..... his dream is to one day ride one.

One of the little boys in his school has ridden one (or so he says)... but he is not a nice little boy.

One day, Sprout heads out for the zoo but ends up lost.... He accidentally runs into the housekeeper & her daughter. The little girl takes Sprout to the local secondhand store where she shows him a red plaster elephant holding up a table, which he promptly buys.

Sprout puts wheels on his elephant & takes it to school, causing an uproar............................

I'm not telling you the rest, it would be a spoiler. ( )

A boy with a passion for elephants sets out to buy one, only to meet with disaster.

I found this children’s chapter book at an estate sale and was attracted by the cover, which shows one rather unhappy boy riding astride a toy elephant (bigger than he is), while another boy with a very satisfied smile on his face stands to the side. Well, given my own obsession with elephants (and books), I just had to have it.

What a delightful surprise! Sprout is so named because of his cowlick. He has a passion for elephants, a huge appetite, and a penchant for hiding, so his parents figure it may be time for him to go to pre-school and meet some other children. He takes his favorite blue elephant the first day, and is especially glad when he sees another boy with a rabbit that is missing an eye. But that other boy states he has actually ridden an elephant at the zoo, and then another child brings in a puppy. No one seems to care about Sprout’s wonderful elephants, so he sets out on his own to go to the zoo, and that’s when he discovers the big red carved elephant in a junk shop.

I thoroughly enjoyed Sprout’s adventures, and loved his irrepressible spirit and determination. If I can’t have my very own elephant, at least I can read about Sprout’s!
( )

Over all this book is charming. The pen drawings really make the book. Rupert (aka Sprout) looks exactly like my son. I can't quite give this book a perfect 10 because Sprout's parents seem a little harsh. They don't delight in their son even though he seems like a delighful child. ( )

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