[.ca] Elliot Gets Stuck (ISBN 1553370147)

Amazon.ca:
Elliot Gets Stuck is the sixth picture book in Andrea Beck's popular series about the spirited little plush moose and his stuffed-animal friends. In this seasonal entry, Elliot can't wait to go outside and play in the puddles on the first day of spring. In his haste to get outdoors and start building dams and racing twig boats, however, he manages to get stuck halfway through the letter slot of his big front door. In an echo of the folk tale "The Big Turnip," as well as Winnie-the-Pooh's narrow escape from Rabbit's front door, Elliot's toy-box companions line up, one after another, to try pulling him out. But it's only when Elliot rethinks how he got into this jam that he finds his own way out. A designer and founder of her own plush-toy company, Andrea Beck developed the Elliot Moose Story series around her favourite stuffed-animal creation. Reminiscent of Jane Hissey's Little Bear series, these gentle adventure tales for preschoolers portray a magical and reassuringly cozy nursery world where toys think and act like small children. The books are carefully written and attractively illustrated in pencil crayon, and they celebrate values of cooperation and friendship as well as creative thinking. Although this story is somewhat derivative, Elliot Gets Stuck will undoubtedly delight Elliot Moose's growing fan club. (Ages 3 to 7) --Lisa Alward