Little Elephant, Big World

Meet Pomelo.   He's a tiny little "garden elephant" who has big imagination and an even larger vocabulary.   Written by Ramona Badescu and illustrated by Benjamin Chaud, the Pomelo series is by far one of my favorite ongoing picture books series for all ages.  Raucous, inventive, heartfelt and surreal each of Pomelo's stories blends into the next not only giving readers a glimpse of what being a garden variety elephant entails but instilling us with the desire to see more of this little pink adventurer.

His journey begins with Pomelo Begins to Grow in which our little elephant wonders if, when and how he'll grow and what will come with this new stature. "Could it turn out that one day Pomelo is the biggest of all?"

Next, Pomelo Explores Color.  From"the silent white of the blank page" and "the comforting white of  the dandelion" to "the magnificent black of fade-out endings", Pomelo sees and knows it all, especially the shades in between.

In Pomelo's Opposites we take a deeper look at his character, his world and consequently at ourselves.  Exploring opposites from up and down through dream and reality, this whimsical page turner will keep you laughing from start to finish.

The latest installment in the Pomelo series, Pomelo's Big Adventure, sees our little friend off into the wide world after packing everything he needs, of course.  Aside from adventure, Pomelo discovers much along the way and perseveres through a "world ruled by chance".  These are books that I can read over and over and not only are they always enjoyable but each one brings a little more of Pomelo to the table showing his readers combined whimsy and verity.  I can hardly wait for the next installment in the series and am in fact thinking of finding all of the original publications, in French, of which there are eleven.