How Can You Lose an Elephant?

Who doesn’t know an Oscar, the small child featured in this tale? Whilst the hero of this tale is ‘as brave as a cave full of lions, as funny as a basket of kittens and as silly as a bucket of frogs,’ he is also an expert at losing his belongings. His skilfully portrayed parents each show their exasperation as Oscar mislays his football boots, his scooter, his flippers. But when he finds a lonely looking elephant in the park, and brings him home, the newcomer rapidly settles in as one of the family. Hugo the elephant is loved by them all. And elephants have a great capacity for memory, and one amazing day, after many games together, Oscar’s memory too starts improving. Life seems… easier. ‘But one day, as is always the way, something happens.’ Whilst playing a game of cards, Oscar really wants to win, and not sometimes, but every time, all the time. Failing to do so, he loses something very important. He loses his temper. He tells Hugo he doesn’t want to play with him anymore, and to GO AWAY. And, quietly, that is just what Hugo does. His parents miss Hugo. Mum asks, ‘How could you lose an elephant?’ Oscar says he doesn’t know, but of course, he does. Fearnley’s illustrations are full of humour, happy pictures full of the tiniest details, from all the different varieties of trees in the park, to the heartfelt expressions on the three humans’ faces. Extra story is told in the pictures; e.g as readers we know where the lost scooter went. The ducks took it! We feel the Mum’s exasperation as Oscar interrupts her meditation. She sits cross-legged in lotus position, candles glowing calm…but look at her hand nearer Oscar!  And it is Kim’s game that Hugo plays with Oscar that helps the boy’s memory to develop… not mentioned in the text but illustrated so well. In the resolution Oscar remembers where he originally found Hugo, in the park, and that is where a happy reunion eventually takes place.  Big apologies from Oscar to Hugo, and they become once more the best of friends.  Such a useful book for helping to deal with tantrums, and it gently emphasises the need to make up if a friendship is broken. Brilliant text, brilliant illustrations.