Henkes, Kevin. A Parade of Elephants. New York: Greenwillow, 2018. Print.
What first always draw me to a Kevin Henkes books is that it is written by Kevin Henkes.
The second thing that draws me to a Kevin Henkes book is the color palette.
Since Egg, and Waiting, I have appreciated how Henkes uses pastels (pink, yellow, blue and green) that remind me of sweetly soft mints, baby nurseries, and spring mornings.
A Parade of Elephants also incorporates these colors, this time to describe a herd of marching elephants. Readers are spectators, sitting on the sidelines curbside while this parade moves forward, and the text narrates the play-by-play of the travel-- how they go in a circle, follow each other, romp over hills proudly, and even under and over bridges (with fish leaping out of the water to watch, too).
These focused elephants do not stop, and they go through caves, holding on to each other's tails at times, all day long.
But night comes and when the moon appears, it is time for the herd to sleep. Like babies before sleep, they yawn, and go down sweetly for the night -- with stars swirling above.
Henkes uses the gutter, full page spreads, and varying widths of panels to portray the journey. Some illustrations bleed off the page and some fill its entirety. The elephants eyes' show their energy: the blue leader is always awake and aware and proud. I don't think they ever change order.
The text placement carries the pace of the story, and time progresses (as indicated with endpapers) from morning to night.
Bedtime story? Yes. Counting story? To some extent, yes.
But filled with patterns, and just the right amount of repetition this book is so much more---
And with this lovely art (printed on the best paper!), this picture book gives Henkes fans what we've come to appreciate about his work.
Under the dust jacket, Henkes gives readers another gift and surprise -- a lovely case cover that adds to this book's especially delightful presentation.
Many thanks to HarperCollins for the book!
Read more about A Parade of Elephants here.
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