Embracing differences.....it's important. What we perceive as an enemy often isn't ;) ( )

There was lots of buzz about this book, so I was excited to get my hands on it. It's cute. The illustrations are wonderful. I want the end papers as wallpaper in my house. The "message" of the book was a little obvious and overbearing. Kids can handle subtlety. This lacked it. ( )

Tilly & Tank is the story of an elephant who tries to make friends with a tank. The tank initially tries to shoot the elephant, but the elephant persists and the tank eventually realizes it is a friend. The illustrations are cute, but personally I wouldn't read this to my toddler because he'd be upset about the tank repeatedly trying to kill the elephant. Maybe kids who watch a lot of action movies and aren't bothered by violence would enjoy it more. Even if a child wasn't bothered by the violence, the idea that you should keep trying to make friends with someone who repeatedly hurts you is not necessarily a good lesson for kids. ( )

“Make love not war” a generational message is brought to life in a whimsically illustrated children’s book. An elephant and a tank learn to look past their differences and communicate with peace and love. A great read to teach the message of friendship to even the youngest child.

This picture book about perception and friendship, is a perfect blend of illustrations with text. The retro-style illustrations compliment the simple yet potent story. Persistant and hopeful Elephant assumes another large creature is a potential friend yet single-minded Tank immediately assumes Elephant is the enemy. An adult could make this story deeper than it needs to be. It is quite pleasing and one-on-one a great discussion starter. ( )