The baby elephant went to school

Author: Samoylov David Samoylovich

Illustrator: Vinokur Vladimir Isaakovich

Publisher: Melik-Pashaev

Genre: Fairy tales by Russian writers

ISBN: 978-5-00041-045-5

Pages: 40 (coated)

Design

Weight: 268 g

Dimensions: 280x215x5 mm

The rhyming play “The Little Elephant Went to School” is a wonderful opportunity for parents to introduce young children to drama.

The play’s hero is a little elephant who passionately wants to go to school. Since there are no elephant schools nearby, his mother takes him to a mouse school, where he joins the first grade. At first, the little elephant and the mice don’t get along. He is so big that he becomes an easy target for their teasing. At the play’s most dramatic moment, when the poor little elephant is crying so hard that he nearly floods the classroom, the mice’s arch-enemy, the cat, appears. Instantly, the little elephant is transformed from a crybaby and a fool into a reliable protector of his classmates. The play ends with a triumphant song and the first graders’ lively dancing.

The play itself, as well as the voices of its characters—the little elephant, the marmot, the mice, and the cat—are well known to grandparents, parents, and children today. They were first heard on gramophone records, then on cassette tapes, and now on CDs. The play is delightful and fun to read aloud, with everyone taking a role, and easy to perform at a party—at a kindergarten, school, or home. The lively, witty dialogue, light and instantly memorable verses, and authentic children’s intonations will inspire young readers to become actors in no time.

Recommended for preschool and primary school children, as well as their parents, teachers of extracurricular arts education, and directors of children’s theater studios.