Ten years has passed since Lisa Mantchev first called Pet Club to order in her debut picture book, Strictly No Elephants, featuring art by Taeeun Yoo. When a boy and his tiny pet elephant discover that the club does not allow pachyderms, they show its members the value of diversity and inclusion\u2014and the true meaning of friendship. Published by Simon & Schuster\u2019s Paula Wiseman Books, the tale has been translated into 19 languages and has sold more than 600,000 copies worldwide.<\/p>\n
Now the collaborators amplify that tale\u2019s message in a companion, The Trouble with Giraffes, in which a girl\u2019s pet giraffe is too tall to fit through the clubhouse door, but the Pet Club members come together to find a way for him\u2014and everyone\u2014to be included. Simon & Schuster\/Paula Wiseman is releasing the title with a 150,000-copy first printing.<\/p>\n
Mantchev\u2019s interest in writing for children dates back to her tenure teaching elementary students at a French-American school from 1997 to 2003. \u201cI was around little kids all day long for six years, and I brought that experience with me when I left teaching,\u201d the author explained. She had already published some adult short stories in magazines and a handful of young adult novels (including the Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Illuminata trilogy, which Feiwel and Friends launched with Eyes Like Stars in 2009) when she happened upon a black-and-white photo on the internet that inspired her first picture book.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a picture of a small child with an elephant pull-toy standing in front of a door,\u201d Mantchev recalled. \u201cI took the idea in that illustration and wrote a short version of a story for my Facebook page, and the feedback almost universally was \u2018This would make a darling picture book.\u2019 Sylvie Frank at Paula Wiseman Books [now senior executive editor at Flamingo Books] encouraged me to write a picture book based on that image that became Strictly No Elephants, which has continued to be a tiny juggernaut of a success. I refer to it as \u2018the tiny elephant who marches onward\u2019 every time I post some news about exciting things happening with my work!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bringing the Can-Do Elephant to Life<\/p>\n
South Korean artist Yoo, two-time recipient of the New York Times Best Illustrated Children\u2019s Book Award and winner of the Ezra Jack Keats Award and the Society of Illustrators\u2019 Founders Award, eagerly signed on to illustrate Strictly No Elephants.<\/p>\n
\u201cReading the manuscript for the first time, I was immediately drawn to the elephant character as an unusual pet,\u201d she said. \u201cI was captivated by how Lisa used the elephant to tell a story about rejection and inclusion, kindness and friendship in such a fun, engaging way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Mantchev had never before worked with an illustrator, she knew from Yoo\u2019s sketches and previous books that \u201cthere was something very sweet and wholesome but also complex about her art.\u201d Knowing that Yoo was the right match for the book, Mantchev added, \u201cI put some art direction suggestions for what I envisioned in the margins of the manuscript. Taeeun ran with them and created art that was a million times better than I could have possibly imagined. It has been astonishing and marvelous to sit in front of children with the book and hear their comments. Taeeun\u2019s work is phenomenal, and I admire her so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Pet Club Reopens Its Doors<\/p>\n