Set in large, boldfaced text, three brief chapters present a blue elephant and a purple monkey as they search for shade, sing together, and challenge wildcats who want to make a snack of Monkey. These unlikely friends bicker, but as Monkey tells Elephant, "I like you just right." The digitally created art is sometimes static but aptly captures the text's humor.

K-Gr 2 Two friends are unable to rest in the heat of the sun. Small, purple Monkey suggests to large, blue Elephant, "How about we look for some shade trees?" When Monkey fails to keep up, she asks Elephant for a ride. "Bump, galump," they continue on until they stop at a puddle for a drink and Elephant sprays his companion with water from his trunk: "Snoof. Splash. Snoof. Splash." In the next chapter, Monkey complains that Elephant is "walking too bumpity," and Elephant responds that Monkey is "Too bossy." Instead of continuing to criticize each other, they agree to sing because that is something they both like. Finally, Elephant successfully challenges "three riffraff wildcats" who "know Monkey is a really good snack." Resting in the shade at last, they conclude, "I like you just right." Schaefer's rich and witty dialogue will charm and amuse early chapter-book readers. The digitally created cartoonlike characters are brimming with emotion and often surrounded by distinctive patterns of sunshine, leaves, and grasses. Children comfortable with Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Are Friends (HarperCollins, 1970) and Wong Herbert Yee's Upstairs Mouse and Downstairs Mole (Houghton, 2005) will enjoy reading about Monkey and Elephant. Laura Scott, Farmington Community Library, MI

Odd couples abound in early readers (see Mo Willems' Gerald and Piggie, Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad, Wong Herbert Yee's Mouse and Mole, to name a few), but there's room for Monkey and Elephant, too. The eponymous characters try "to rest under the afternoon sun," but it's too hot, so they go in search of shade. Over the course of a journey initially fraught with bickering, they quickly resolve problems and even end up cheerily singing together. In chapter three, they mistake a distant group of wild cats for a cluster of shade trees, but Elephant handily defends Monkey when they say they want to eat her. "How about…you guys have DUST CAKE for snack today?" he responds, scuffing up the ground. Accompanying digital art shows the striped cats sitting stunned into submission, their eyes looking upward to an off-stage Elephant--though dust clouds are absent, diminishing the drama. There's a Horton-esque quality about Bernstein's Elephant throughout, and both he and Monkey exude personality. This achievement in visual characterization is matched by Schaefer's text, which employs controlled word choices and embeds careful repetition in support of the emerging reader. A welcome addition to the early-reader shelf. (Early reader. 5-7)