Longer story - fun! ( )

Ollie comes to live with a family that never expected to have him! The illustrations give extra details of how the characters feel throughout the story.

I loved this inspirational story. Ollie, the purple elephant, is played as the gentile giant, which I was able to relate to many other stories I read as a child. I loved Ollie the more I read because he always has good intentions, although sometimes was misunderstood. While reading, I felt bad for Ollie, as he was lied to. I enjoyed how this book had the "good guy/bad guy" scenario, but with a twist! This made me want to keep reading because I had a feeling Ollie was going to save the day, but wanted to find out how. The unexpected catastrophe (a robbery) kept me interested as I did not expect that to happen in such a (what seemed) gentle story. The bright and vivid illustrations really brought the text to life, which added to why I really love this story. ( )

Appealing story about an unusual pet. ( )

"Mr. McLaughlin had always told his children that should they ever come across a purple elephant, they could keep him." Poor Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin had no idea they would one day find Ollie, a purple elephant, in the park. Not wanting to go back on their word, the McLaughlins decide to invite Ollie home, where they put him up on the fold out couch, much to Ginger the cat's annoyance. While Ollie lives it up with the McLaughlins, Ginger makes a deal with the downstairs neighbor, Mr. Puddlebottom, who isn't too keen on Ollie either. Soon Ollie is taken away by a traveling circus, and the McLaughlins are heartbroken. As always Krosoczka has his finger on the pulse of what's funny, and he also has a wonderful touch of feeling what it's like to be a part of a family. A lovely book, and a great read aloud for school age audiences.