Weezie, the Elephant with Allergies by Maranda Russell
Another children’s book by Maranda Russell which takes a wonderfully simple idea and makes it beautiful. Growing up in a foster home I saw what it was like for children of all ages to wait for the perfect fit, some much longer than others for no reason other than them being themselves.
Weezie, in this case, is the elephant in the room after everyone else has been adopted. He begins to blame himself, his uncontrollable sneezes from allergies, for not being acceptable to any visiting family and convinces himself that he’ll never find a home away from the orphanage.
The only line in this book I stumbled over was “For a moment his eyes filled with hope, but then he remembered the past and shook his head.” Elephants have incredible memories and so I pondered the significance of suddenly remembering the past that had upset him so. Once I got through that I was right back with Weezie, the Elephant with Allergies and rooting that he found a home. He did, of course, find a home and I think this book will easily find a home in your hearts.
I can’t wait for the print edition with more illustrations to be available! Right now you can read this as an ebook through Smashwords.
Thanks Maranda for letting me read this and for sharing with the world the theme of belonging.
And thank you for reading!
Sarah Butland
