Title: You Can’t Call an Elephant in an Emergency
Author: Patricia Cleveland-Peck
Illustrator: David Tazzyman
The story:
Stop the press! There’s an emergency taking place and it’s time to call in the help. But… would you want an elephant firefighter? Or a traffic cop sloth? Or even a paramedic chimpanzee? Definitely not! Here is your guide to what animals NOT to call during an emergency.
My review:
Three books into this series, you know exactly what to expect from this brilliant picture team. For those of you unfamiliar with the books, each one starts with – as the titles suggest – an elephant causing calamity by taking on an unlikely task.
Thereafter, every double-page spread features a different animal in a hilarious scene with the quirky narrator offering some wise rhyming advice to the reader. Book 1 centred around travel and featured some lovely iconic London backdrops.
In book 2, we saw lots of advice about what animals you should NOT let help you get ready for the day. From taking baths with sharks to letting an octopus help you get dressed.
If you’ve read and enjoyed the first two books in this series, You Can’t Take an Elephant on the Bus and You Can’t Let an Elephant Drive a Digger, then you will not be disappointed with this latest instalment. In fact, I think it is my favourite of the three.
Each page has an animal in some sort of emergency service from a lifeguard llama to a chicken in the police force. My favourite has to be Porcupine from the flood rescue team, will those prickly quills be the downfall of the rubber boat?
Patricia’s short four-line rhyming verse on each page always sets the tone for David’s humour-packed illustrations. Each page is bursting with personality and little details that will have readers laughing out loud.
You can also download colouring worksheets from Bloombury’s website here.
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Publication date: 14 May 2020
ISBN: 978-1408880630
I am very grateful to the publisher for letting me read this book via Net Galley. This voluntary review contains my honest opinion.
Picture Book Perfect 
We liked the first book but were less taken with the second. I’m hoping this one will be a winner!
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The first one is fab, isn’t it? But I do think I prefer this third one. The emergency service theme runs all the way through and there’s some really funny scenarios x
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We’ll definitely give it a go!
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