Elephant's Makeover by Rukhsana Khan

📚 Elephant's Makeover 📚

Author: Rukhsana Khan

Illustrator:

Publisher: Ruqaya's Bookshelf

Age: 4-8

Islamic Content: None. Written and Published by Muslims

Concerns: None

Summary:

Elephant hears others around make fun of her features. After some reflecting she decides she wants to swap features for better ones. Even after the change her friends still don't like Elephant. Taking advise from his tiny acquaintance, elephant learns an important lesson.

Review:

Seeing split reviews on this book as made me think about whether my position on it was valid or not. Yes, I do read other people's reviews, to either get insight or possibly even to get some validity on our own feelings about it.

As soon as I received this book, my kids were all over it. They got the main message about trying to get approval from wrong friends and finding friendship in unexpected places. The one page spread of illustrations is creepy, but this is exactly why my kids seem to find it silly and engaging. The idea of a living creature trading body parts was silly and funny to them. Time after time, my 6yo will look for this book in our shelf for her bedtime pick.

As an adult reading this book, I did think the resolution needed a little more explanation rather than the simplistic 'apology' it offers. So no matter which side of the fence you might be in on this particular book, one thing I have to acknowledge is the risk and bravery it takes for an indie Muslim publisher to take a step out of their comfort zone with a project. And this book was it, for Ruqaya's Bookshelf.

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