A gentle adventure for early elementary.

Loved this story when I was a kid. Great read-aloud or junior reader book. ( )

With writing is so elegant and illustrations so charming and distinctive, how could I not love this story? True, there's not a whole lot to it--boy meets talking cat, boy runs away from home, boy outsmarts wild animals, boy rescues dragon--but it's a perfect read-aloud for 4- to 7-year-olds. My favorite part is when Elmer brushes the rhino's teeth.

I also really enjoy the fact that even though Elmer is just a little boy to us, he's also the narrator's father, which makes the telling of the story more affectionate than the usual third-person narration. ( )

Reading level: grades 2-6
Awards: John Newbery Medal

Lots of children's books are interesting for adults, too, but I think there is a point where the book is for such a young reader that it's not going to be fun for an adult. Unfortunately, this book is part of the latter group. It is on the 100 Best Children's Books list, so there is definitely merit here, and the illustrations are lovely. But as an adult who is reading this on my own, it was boring. Why would an adult read a children's book on her own? Because I plan to read every book on the list that I never read as a kid, and so erase the embarrassment of admitting to my library school professor that I'd only read 12 of the listed books. Plus, as I said before, lots of children's and young adult books are very interesting, and good reads at any age. ( )