TABU AND THE DANCING ELEPHANTS

Tabu, a happy little baby, lives on the great plains of Africa with his parents. The mother works in the fields all day, father sleeps away the heat in the family hut (he is tired from carving toys for the baby, and from his hunting exploits), so perhaps it's not surprising when an elephant mother steals Tabu. The father fails to get Tabu back, but the resourceful mother spends an enchanted night with the elephants and brings her boy home safe and sound. Those with no sense of humor will be rankled by this tale, for it seems full of stereotypes, but it is actually one jolly ride through the African landscape. Gilbert's paintings are thick with forms sculpted from color and yet have an airiness that makes magic of the moment when elephants dance. (Picture book. 4-8)