WHEN AN ELEPHANT FALLS IN LOVE

You know that feeling when you first fall in love, and all you seem to do around your crush is act foolish? When an elephant falls in love, it's just like that: he hides from the one he loves, he tries to eat healthy but ends up finishing cheesecake, he stares at the clouds for hours and hours... Davide Cali and Alice Lotti bring readers a glimpse into the silliness of first loves with their beautiful picture book When an Elephant Falls in Love.

Lotti plays off of Cali's text so well. She not only enhances the words, she creates her own little visual jokes that will have readers laughing out loud. Cali's text tells us that an elephant will hide from the one he loves, but Lotti hides the elephant behind possible the skinniest tree in the world. We even see the elephant surrounded by very small animals--a bird, snail, and butterfly--to further emphasize just how big the elephant is behind the tree. Everyone does silly things in the name of love (which Cali conveys with the text), but Lotti adds a whimsical sense of humor to the actions with the illustrations.

The illustrations are mixed media, soft in appearance but bold in line. While they are full of color, the colors never detract from the presence of the elephant, who stands out in every scene partly because he is a different texture than most of the rest of the illustrations. It makes him pop out of the colorful, flat world he lives in and places him as the focus of every scene (even when he's hiding!)

When an Elephant Falls in Love is relatable and honest about love and reminds readers that true love comes to those who wait.