PreSchool-Grade 1-Elmer, a patchwork elephant, is waiting for his cousin to visit. He and the other pachyderms decide to look for the tardy Wilbur. Their search turns into a game of hide-and-seek because Wilbur, a ventriloquist, keeps throwing his voice in the direction of a tiger, a pond, and some rabbits. Just when the seekers are ready to pack it in and go home, the checkerboard-patterned Wilbur is found stuck in a tree. Elmer and friends help get him down, but how he got up there remains a mystery. McKee's colorful illustrations are jolly and rambunctious, but the story is thin. If Wilbur is stuck, why does he mislead his would-be rescuers for so long? And how did he get up that tree, anyway? To young listeners, who will be charmed by the childlike antics of these amiable animated animals, the answers to these questions are probably irrelevant, and they will enjoy looking at the pictures more than once. Anna DeWind, Milwaukee Public Library Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
