My Bibi Always Remembers
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Little Tembo, a baby elephant, is thirsty and her herd cannot find any water. But Bibi, the matriarch, "remembers the way to wet." As Bibi leads them across the parched savannah, Tembo happily follows, every now and then getting distracted by her own memories of games she loves to play. With touching family moments interspersed between Tembo's playful actions, this tribute to grandmothers will make a perfect read-aloud. Praise for Stay Close to Mama "Readers and their parents will instantly see themselves in this loving but ongoing conflict over the need to explore and the need to protect, and they'll undoubtedly find the two characters adorable and reassuring."
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The duo behind Stay Close to Mama and Just Like My Papa returns with another cross-generational animal story set in the African savanna. Like Twiga the giraffe in Stay Close to Mama, Tembo the elephant is easily distracted, darting away from her family as they search for water. "When Tembo looks up," writes Buzzeo, "she is all alone. Wind whistles through the acacia trees. Tembo squeals. Which way should I go? She waits and listens." The story reaches its dramatic apex the third time Tembo wanders off for a nap, awakening as "hyenas laugh" and "lions huff" nearby. Wohnoutka amplifies the danger by placing the predators in the foreground amid the dark shadows and ruddy colors of sunset, but Tembo's family isn't far off, and a sense of security is quickly reestablished. Buzzeo emphasizes the important matriarchal role of Tembo's grandmother, Bibi, throughout, and endnotes offer additional information on how these eldest elephants lead and protect their families. In both text and art, it's a careful and effective balance of anthropomorphic warmth and real-world animal behavior. Ages 3 5.
