Emily Brown and the Elephant Emergency
Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books
Emily, her rabbit Stanley, and their friend Matilda (who, by the way, is an elephant) are doing Very Important Things and having Great Adventures, but keep getting interrupted by the emergency telephone. Its Matilda's mum, who's worried Matilda doesn't have her wellies, or will miss her tea, or is going to get eaten by crocodiles.
Emily's as strong-willed and fun as ever, telling Matilda's worrisome mum like it is: clean socks are NOT an emergency. But when the emergency telephone doesn't ring and Matilda's mum goes M.I.A., it's up to this little gang of friends to save the day.
As in all the Emily Brown books, Cressida Cowell and illustrator Neal Layton perfectly blend imaginative play with reality, cleverly presenting and solving the parental dilemma of protectiveness versus the freedom to explore: ultimately, perhaps the best thing to do when it comes to childhood adventuring is to join in.
