A beautiful heartwarming book with a simple message from Olive about staying positive and reminding us that you can let go of any baggage and also the past.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

This book is perfection. It takes depression and turns it into a story that children can understand. I love the way the elephant is described to show Olive's fathers depression. The characters are so well written. It's just a beautiful piece of writing.

'A large grey elephant is following Olive's father around. It leaves with him for work and is still trailing behind him when he comes home again, keeping him heavy and sad. Every day, Olive wishes it would go.

When she falls from a tree and gets a concussion, Olive awakes to see a grey tortoise walking behind her grandad. With the help of her friend Arthur she manages to get rid of it, and the three decide to try to chase the elephant away, too.'

I was blown away by the depth of emotion in this book, that it brought me to tears. This vision and understanding of mental health from a child's point of view is genius and I am recommending it to all my family and friends to buy, read and keep on their shelves.

Such a beautiful interpretation of what sadness and depression can look like from the outside and such a beautiful way of understanding it, accepting it as a big grey shadow that can affect the whole family, and understanding that with love it can be chased away.

A heart-warming and charming story, The Elephant by Peter Carnavas poignantly explores themes of family, loss and depression. Olive lives with her dad and Grandad, but her father carries around a great weight since her mother died. A physical weight- the size of an elephant even! In this moving story, Peter Carnavas sensitively explores how the mental health of others might appear to a child. For Olive, it is takes its form in physical animals that weighs each individual down. The story is peppered with touching scenes of warmth and hilarity as Olive strives to banish the animals forever. This book is perfect for sharing with any young person, and is important for the space it will create for conversations on mental wellbeing and mental illness. It is a book that we all need to read, adult and child alike.

This is heartbreaking to read. The illustrations are beautiful and the colours perfect. I am sure this is going to be very helpful for a lot of children and their carers.

I have always said when it comes to children's fiction there are two kinds of books, those to be read with children and those for children to explore alone and this is definitely the former. This book beautifully and sensitively tackles subjects to do with depression, grief and emotions through the eyes of our young character and I would definitely recommend it as a starting point to talking to children about mental health

A heart-warming story of Olive who wants to get rid of a giant Elephant always following her father. The Elephant is an abstract of her father’s grief and sadness, and she is determined to make her father happy again with the help of her friend Arthur and her grandfather. It’s a beautiful story for middle-grade readers. I loved it. Highly Recommended.

Beautiful story sensitively addressing the elephant in the room (literally) of a father's sadness. Olive is eager to help her father chase the elephant away, and is supported a loved by her doting, cheerful grandad, and best friend Arthur. The illustrations also catch the emotions of the story, offering pauses in the narrative.

This is a Children's/Middle Grade book. This book really shows how children sees adult handling their sadness/grief. I love how well this book was written. I really feel this is a great book from children to read that is trying to figured out grief or sadness. It is also great for adults to read. I really enjoyed reading this book, and I wish I know about this book when my daughter's horse died. I feel it would have helped her so much. I love all the characters in this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Pushkin Press) or author (Peter Carnavas) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pushkin Press for approving me to read 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙴𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝 by Peter Carnavas.
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𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙾𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗, 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚜 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝’𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊 𝚜𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚊𝚝.
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This is a very beautiful children's book covering themes of family, love, loss, and friendship.
As we know these days families come in all shapes and sizes, and unfortunately not all childhoods are the happiest ones.
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𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝙷𝚎’𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚒𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.
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There are some incredibly important messages within the book itself.
Often if a family has experienced some sort of grief or trauma, the children cannot process or understand those events in the same way, and they don't always understand adult responses or emotions.
There is a tendency in these circumstances to become a 'people pleaser' or to take on the burden of trying to manage the emotions of others around them, because they don't have the same freedom to develop and grow independently.
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‘𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙,’ 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍,‘ 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕.’
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Through her relationship with her grandad and her friend Arthur, Olive is reminded of the beautiful things in life that bring colour, even when things can seem particularly grey and sad.
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'𝙶𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚍 𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚢 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛.'
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There are also important reminders that noone's life is perfect, which is also important for children to recognise.
While Arthur is an astute and caring friend, trying to help Olive the only way he knows how - with his 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘰𝘧 𝘌𝘭𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 - all may not be as it seems with his family and home life either.
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𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚠𝚒𝚌𝚑, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚙𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝙾𝚕𝚒𝚟𝚎’𝚜 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚘𝚡. 𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚌𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 ... ‘𝙸 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚊𝚍 𝚖𝚊𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚑,’ 𝙰𝚛𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚛 𝚐𝚛𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚍.
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This book brought tears to my eyes more than a few times, and I really wish this book had been available when I was a child.
Due out January 28th 2021, I'd definitely encourage everyone to give it a read. Just be sure to have a few tissues handy!

Such a simple title hides an amazing, uplifting book.
Olive is a young girl who lives with her father and grandfather. One day she reveals to her best friend, Arthur, that she is able to see an elephant that follows her father around. This elephant weighs and slows him down but Olive doesn't know what to do. When she is asked to bring something old to school to celebrate the school's 100th birthday she realises this will not be an easy task unless she can get rid of the elephant. Olive starts to understand why the elephant is there and this in turn makes it possible for her to encourage it to go.
The elephant in this story is a simple but powerful representation of how grief can affect people. It shows just how much of an impact it can have on everyone of all ages.
This is not just a story about grief but also of family, memories and love.

The Elephant
By Peter Carnavas
Published by Pushkin Children's
Pushkin Press
A Sarah Odedina Book

Childhood adventure meets grief and hope, handled with such thoughtful sensitivity, wrapped up in beautiful writing.

Olive never knew her mum and now struggles to find a way to connect with her dad. Her life is shaped and organised by the loving care of her grandad.
School keeps Olive's mind occupied during the day with good friend Arthur to share smiles and ideas with, but only her adventures when grandad picks her up from school with his purple backpack, really cheer her up.

‘Grandad rubs out the grey parts of my day and fills them with colour.’

Woven into Olive's adventures, are the celebration plans for her school's 100th birthday. 
The 'something old' she treasures and wants to bring to the event is her old bicycle - with very special reason - but why is fixing it taking SO long?

Will it EVER get fixed?

We meet an elephant, a tortoise and a dog in this wonderful story. They're not going to be anything like other animals you've met in any other books.

Many health conditions can be so isolating for people. Depression is one of them, sometimes providing an even more challenging feeling for close family members, young and old.

Also, such a tricky subject to tackle, especially for a younger audience.
Peter Carnavas writes with such an exquisite, unique style & approaches the topic of recognising & expressing emotions in a gentle but clever way.

Sometimes children have a strength within that adults have no idea about until it surfaces.
I wasn't ready for (or expecting) a mini twist at the end but it was VERY special.

This is a chapter book but even the most reluctant young reader I've experienced would enjoy the short, sometimes VERY short chapters! For some, this element will help instil a sense of achievement & encourage them to continue.

Another triumph from Pushkin Press

Olive’s dad is sad. In fact he’s so sad, the sadness is like a huge elephant that follows him everywhere. Olive is the only one who can see it and she is determined to chase it away.

This is a beautiful story about bereavement and depression. The relationship between Olive and her grandad is the highlight of the story. However, despite the story being beautifully written, the sadness is chased away somewhat easily at the end, which makes you wonder why this didn’t happen before. I loved the little twist of the third animal in the story.

Olive's dad is sad and Olive knows this because she can see the big grey elephant following him around and making everything feel heavy and difficult. She decides that she is going to make her dad happy again and so comes up with a plan, assisted by her wonderful grandad and her best friend, Arthur.

This is just one of those perfect books, that you read and then immediately want to share with everyone. The illustrations are great and I loved The relationship between Olive and the various special people in her life, especially her grandad, who always knows exactly what to do to help Olive and show her how wonderful the simple things in life can be. I have already ordered two copies; one for myself and one to give as a gift, though I am already thinking I should've bought more!

A beautiful book which would be a wonderful way to introduce children to the issue of depression. It would be a perfect place in which to start discussions and although the book looks at things from a very simplistic view it is done with such done with such delightful imagery. This would be a perfect addition to any library to open up important discussions with younger children about their own and other peoples feelings and the importance of being kind and being aware of others.

My thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read and review this special book.

This is such a beautiful heart-warming story which cleverly portrays depression using metaphorical animals in a way that children will be able to understand (The Elephant is so big, heavy and grey with a little black hat).
Mental health is a topic that is rarely approached in children’s books and the way that Carnavas writes and the characters that he created allows this book to be a wonderful portrayal and explanation of depression while being suitable and understandable for a young audience.

This lovely book is perfect for children who are transitioning from picture books into novels as the vocabulary used is simple and easy to understand. The story is told in 3rd person and it nicely described the characters, their feelings and surroundings. Friendship is another topic that this story touches on as well as how important is to be there for your family and friends.

It is the kind of book that parents should read first to decide if they would like their child/children to read it on their own or if they would prefer read in together to allow some discussion and explanation. I personally choose to read this book with my boys as I want them to fully understand the topics of the book such as depression, the emotions that people feel and how they deal with them.

In conclusion I really enjoyed reading this book and even as an adult made feel all kind of emotions. I would highly recommend this book to be read by parents together with their child due to the weight of the subject matter. The finale of the story is a happy one although slightly bittersweet as it is much more about learning to carry on living and moving past tragedy rather than promising a fairy tale ending.

Review to come January 2021 on Blog/Goodreads

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

A book about a sad dad and the elephant that follows him and how our MC goes to help out her dad by getting rid of the elephant. Along the way there is the school's 100th birthday where the kids have to bring something really old (I wonder what I would bring if I was a kid in that school, don't even know if we ever had something really old, maybe jewellery?) and show what it is. We see our MC is thinking of bringing her bike, which used to belong to her mom. But how to convince dad since he is fixing it and being under pressure from an elephant.
I had fun seeing what each kid brought with them and I adored what Olive brought to the party. That is just such a wonderful idea.

I wished the dad had found help from a professional a long time ago, or talked to someone about all of this, let it all out instead of having an elephant crush him (which is an all too familiar feeling, I have had plenty of elephants, though I would think my animal more as a bear, throughout my life). Especially if you have a kid. Your kid needs you. You are the only parent Olive has. She needs to be able to rely on you, not have to constantly be worried about you and your health. :( Or having to feel bad because she asks you something. But I could see that he loved her, well before the ending and what was shown there. He was being pressed by an elephant, but his love for her never went away.

I am glad she had her grandfather who did an amazing job at caring for her, making sure she had food and such in her stomach, he took her outside to wonderful places, told her about her mom, or if he knew she was thinking about her mom he was there for her to talk or distract her with something else. I loved her grandfather, such a wonderful sweet man. I adored what they did on top of that building, how they made several people's day by just complimenting them in a fun way.

Arthur was such a wonderful friend and I loved how he instantly believed Olive on the elephant matter and even went so far to find elephant facts.

Later on not only has she got to get rid of an elephant... she also has to get rid of a tortoise. Yes, the animals are growing, and I loved how the author showed us the various animals that could mean someone is sad/not happy. I do hope that Olive learns though that these animals may disappear for a while.. but can always come back. I speak from experience that you can never truly get rid of them fully.

I understand that this is a children's book, but I found the end a bit too unbelievable. He has been mourning, feeling sad, for such a long time, I am sorry just one fun event isn't going to glue it all together, it isn't going to fix it. He needs more help, more talks, more moments like these to make his life better. I just don't want kids to think that things will get fix so easily. Again, speaking for experience.

I didn't notice this was going to be PDF (and not sure if I requested this book BEFORE or AFTER Netgalley finally implemented what format the book would be). 176 pages on my computer screen... well my headache has definitely worsened. I tried reading it on my Kindle, because while PDF will be messy, with 5-10% of the books you can still read it somehow. However... the illustrations were just gone from the book on my Kindle. *sighs* Would be nice if publishers would just only do epub/mobis instead of the constant PDFs that almost no one wants.

But all in all, this was a beautiful book about loss, mourning, and finding happiness. I hope that the father seeks further help and that he and his daughter and father can have many more happy moments. The art was also quite pretty.

What a stunning book. It reminds me of books such as 'Black Dog', but uses an Elephant to show the huge sorrow that is being carried by the father. This is very special and should be in all school libraries for children to access.