SOR Picture Book Review: The Elephant and the Bad Baby by Elfrida Vipont Illustrated by Raymond Briggs

So here is a SOR book that I have never read before but is on the 1001 children's book list. What sold me on reading it was that it was illustrated by one of my all time favorites Raymond Briggs.

One day an elephant encounters a bad baby and takes him all through town. All along the way, the elephant swipes treats for both himself and the bad baby. However, at no point does the baby say the word, please. Chasing behind them the whole time is an ever growing following of shop owners that they stole from.

For me, the story was a bit weird. The elephant had no problem stealing but had a problem with the baby not saying the word, please. I suppose that he had his own moral code. Also one has to wonder if the shop owners told the mother about what the elephant and bad baby did. 

What made this book was the illustrations. I know I'm biased as I'm a huge fangirl for Briggs but really the drawings make this book. My favorites were when all the shop owners run into the elephant's rump and the HUUUGE pan that the mother uses to make pancakes.  

So the story line is more like a 2 star for me while the drawings are a 4 star. I'm in a debate on where I fall overall on this book. So I'll split the difference

3 out of 5 stars