Stand Back, Said the Elephant, I'm Going to Sneeze!

Oh my goodness. So funny, I truly did laugh out loud. The pictures are funny enough for toddlers to enjoy, the rollicking rhyme will encourage an independent reader to read this over and over, the pictures of the animals reacting to the elephant's announcement are vividly both true to the animals and true to the humor, there are a lot of different animals to meet, and the two-part ending packs a punch neither to be expected nor soon-forgotten.

As you can see by reading this review, I'm still breathless & giddy. I will read it again before I return it to the library and keep it on my to-read-again list for later, too. And I will try to find more by author and illustrator (though it's an older book, and maybe their other stuff is gone). show more Do try to get this from your library before it's culled!
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I would love to read this aloud to a little. Or, even better, hear an 8 read it to a 5. All those juicy words, arranged in fun rhymes and a joyous rhythm!

So, what's even worse than an elephant's sneeze, that phenomon which blows the stripes off the zebra and the scales off the fish? show less

I first read “Stand Back,” Said the Elephant, “I’m Going to Sneeze!” when my children were little, and now all these years later, it still brings a chuckle or two. The story is written in rhyme with lots of humor by Patricia Thomas, and Wallace Tripp’s artwork is charming. If you can get your hands on a copy of this delightful picture story book, it would be a perfect gift for the young ones in your life.
All of the animals panic when the elephant says he going to sneeze.
“Beware, beware,”
Called the bees to the bear.
“The elephant says he’s going to sneeze.”
“Oh, please,
Not a sneeze,”
“That’s not fair.
I declare,
The last time he sneezed he blew off all my hair,
And left me so bare
I spent the whole winter in long show more underwear –

I love children’s books, but this is undeniably one of my favorite. I give it 5 stars. show less

This is a poetry book written in rhyme about a very large animal with a sinus problem. When he sneezes, it has dire consequences for all the other animals. They all plead with him not to sneeze, but it is the little mouse who prevents it by scaring the elephant. Then the elephant starts to laugh which shakes the entire jungle and its animal population causing the same reaction as the sneeze.

I love reading this book aloud to children. Their hilarious reactions are catching. It's impossible not to laugh with them. For hours afterward, they are still repeating the rhymes - such as "the bear in long underwear". They beg to hear it read again and again.

This book could be used to teach children rhyming words. By using flash cards, they could show more quickly say words that rhyme with the cards and create a silly story of their own. It can also be used to talk about animals and their anatomy and the silliness of what happened to them when the elephant sneezed. show less

The elephant, of course, is going to sneeze. (Actually, there are youtube videos of elephants sneezing and not much happens because of it, but realism isn't the point, now is it?) So he warns everybody, and they start giving these long (long! don't read this book to a kiddo with a short attention span!) pleas, reminding him of the disaster that struck the LAST time he sneezed - the bear went bare, and all the hippopotamuseses fell on their bottomuseses, the feathers fell off the birds and the flowers off the trees.... Well! It was not a pretty picture.

But the poor elephant is undeterred. He MUST sneeze. He WILL sneeze... until he doesn't.

And this is so surprising he starts to laugh, and, well...

maybe he should have sneezed instead, show more that's all I can say. show less

"Stand Back," Said the Elephant, "I'm Going to Sneeze!" by Patricia Thomas is a doozy of a title. But it gets to the heart of this silly rhyming story. An elephant is having a bad case of sneezes and they are causing no end of trouble for the other animals.

The winning element for me on this story is the artwork. The illustrations are just the right combination of realistic and ridiculous. Take for instance the very surprised zebra watching his black stripes fly in all directions or the birds having their feathers blown off.

The book was first published in 1971 and reissued in 1990.

This is a silly book that will make children of all ages laugh. It is very clever and rhymes which is always fun. I think children will learn to use their imaginations more after reading this book.

Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

READING LEVEL: 3.1 AR POINTS: .5

Another super cute children’s poem book written and published in 1971. This book reads very much like a Dr. Suess book, which I absolutely love. It’s the only kind of poems I even understand. It was in with my cousin’s (Lancer Woolwine) family photos, which I am currently organizing for their family. This book, missing its cover, stays with the family.