Little Nelly's Big Book

PreS-Gr 1—An elephant who apparently has no family finds a book called The Big Book of Knowledge, reads a description of a mouse (gray, big ears, skinny tail), and concludes that she is one. When she reads "mice have homes behind holes in the wall," she moves in with a mouse family. Although they are kind to her, Little Nelly is aware that she is different, and she is also very hungry. After Grandma Mouse does a little research on her laptop, they take Little Nelly to the zoo and introduce her to the resident "mice." At this point, one of the mice, Micky, has been looking through The Big Book of Knowledge and concludes that he is an elephant (gray, big ears, skinny tail). Micky and Little Nelly agree that although the former is an elephant and the latter a mouse, they can still be friends. The plot is implausible from start to finish and not likely to fly with even the youngest readers. While some of the digital illustrations are mildly comical, they push the envelope even further by giving Little Nelly distinctly mouselike ears. A marginal purchase.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ