Strictly No Elephants

by Lisa Mantchev

A boy and his tiny pet elephant are turned away from the Pet Club, so he finds a new friend and starts a club where everyone belongs.

Big Idea

Everyone belongs, and small acts of kindness can help build a welcoming community where all people are valued.

Discussion Questions

1.Why did the Pet Club refuse the elephant?
2.Was the club's rule fair? Why or why not?
3.How did the boy respond to being excluded?
4.Why did the girl become his friend?
5.What makes the new club different?
6.How does the parade show that everyone belongs?
7.How can our classroom be more welcoming?

Classroom Activity

Create Your Own Pet

Invent an unusual pet. Describe its appearance, personality, and favorite activities, and share why it would make a great friend.

Lesson Plan

⏱ 45 minutes📦 Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, drawing paper, pencils, crayons or markers, chart paper, tape

Learning Goals

Identify how the boy and his tiny elephant feel when they are excluded from the Pet Club and welcomed into a new club.
Explain how the boy and his new friend create a community where everyone belongs.
Invent an unusual pet and describe its appearance, personality, and favorite activities through drawing, dictation, or writing.
Practice welcoming others by sharing pets, listening respectfully, and offering kind responses.

Activity Steps

1.Read aloud Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev. Pause at the Pet Club sign and ask: “How do the boy and his elephant feel? What in the words or pictures helps you know?”
2.Discuss the new club the children create. Ask: “What makes this club welcoming? How do the boy and his elephant help each other like friends?” List a few welcoming actions, such as inviting someone to join or helping them when something is difficult.
3.Invite students to invent an unusual pet that would belong in the new club. Model a playful example, such as a tiny dragon who loves puzzles and helps friends find missing pieces. Have students draw their pet and add details about its appearance.
4.Ask students to describe their pet using these prompts: “My pet looks like…,” “My pet is…,” “My pet loves to…,” and “My pet would make a great friend because….” Kindergarten students may dictate or label pictures; older students may write several sentences.
5.Have students share with a partner or small group. Listeners welcome each pet by saying, “Your pet belongs in our club!” and naming one detail they appreciate.
6.Display the pets beneath a class-created “Everyone Welcome” sign. Close by having each student name one small act of kindness they can use to help a classmate feel included.

Standards Connections

ELA: RL.K.3 / RL.1.3 — Identify characters and major events; describe characters and their responses to events.
ELA: W.K.3 / W.1.3 / W.2.3 — Build narrative-writing skills through drawing, dictating, or writing about an invented pet and its activities.
ELA: SL.K.1 / SL.1.1 / SL.2.1 — Participate in collaborative conversations, follow discussion rules, and listen to others.
SEL: Social awareness — Recognize feelings associated with exclusion and appreciate differences.
SEL: Relationship skills — Practice kindness, respectful listening, and welcoming others into a group.

Pace-Write-Read Study with Pace-Write It!

Focus question: How does an author slow down and speed up a story to help readers feel exclusion, friendship, and belonging? In Strictly No Elephants by Lisa Mantchev, a boy and his tiny pet elephant are left out of the Pet Club and then create a new club where everyone is welcome. Mantchev uses pacing by lingering on emotional moments, quick page turns, and repeated lines so readers feel the sting of being excluded and the joy of finding acceptance.

Element	How to notice or teach it in the novel
Pace	Read: Notice how the story moves slowly when the boy and his tiny elephant feel hurt outside the Pet Club, then picks up when he meets the girl with the skunk and starts a new club. Classroom Activity: Write 3 short sentences that slow down a feeling of being left out, then 3 quick sentences that speed up the moment a new friend appears.
Plot	Read: Notice the clear plot path in this book: the boy and his tiny elephant get ready, are turned away, meet a new friend, and solve the problem by making a new club. Classroom Activity: Make a 4-box story map and then write your own simple plot about a character who is left out and makes a better solution.
Prosody	Read: Listen to how the sentences sound gentle and thoughtful, matching the kind tone of the boy and the welcoming ending. Classroom Activity: Read one page aloud with expression, then write 2 lines for a narrator voice that sounds soft at first and joyful at the end.
Word pause	Read: Notice places where the wording makes readers stop and feel, especially around the Pet Club sign and the quiet hurt of being told no. Classroom Activity: Write a sentence about a character seeing an unkind sign, and add a pause with a dash or ellipsis to show the feeling.
Concept	Read: Notice that the big idea is acceptance: not everyone fits old rules, so the characters make a space where everyone belongs. Classroom Activity: Write 1 sentence that tells the lesson of your own story about inclusion, using the frame 'Everyone belongs when ___.'
Voice & World View	Read: Notice the warm, caring voice and the world view that unusual pets and unusual people deserve kindness and community. Classroom Activity: Write a short note from a narrator who believes every child and every pet should be welcomed.
Setting & Place	Read: Notice how the sidewalk, neighborhood, and meeting place for the new club help the story feel real and close to a child's world. Classroom Activity: Write 3 setting details for a place where a new inclusive club could meet, such as a park, porch, or playground.
Point of View	Read: Notice that the story stays close to the boy's experience, so readers feel his excitement, embarrassment, and hope. Classroom Activity: Rewrite the Pet Club moment from the point of view of the tiny elephant or the girl with the skunk.
Original Characters	Read: Notice how memorable the tiny elephant and the skunk are because they are unexpected pets who match the book's message about differences. Classroom Activity: Invent an unusual pet and owner for a new club member, and write 2 sentences showing why they belong.
Dialogue	Read: Notice how the dialogue is brief but powerful, especially when the Pet Club says the tiny elephant is not allowed and when the new friendship begins. Classroom Activity: Write 4 lines of dialogue between two characters who decide to start a club where everyone is welcome.
Details	Read: Notice the small details about the tiny elephant, the walk to Pet Club day, and the way characters react, which help readers connect to the story. Classroom Activity: List 5 tiny details about a character and pet, then use 3 of them in a short scene.
Descriptions	Read: Notice how the descriptions are simple but vivid, helping readers picture the tiny elephant and the other special pets without slowing the story too much. Classroom Activity: Write 2 describing sentences about a pet using size, color, movement, or sound.
Strong First Lines	Read: Notice how the beginning quickly introduces the boy's bond with his tiny elephant and makes readers want to know what will happen next. Classroom Activity: Write an opening line for a story about a child and a surprising pet that makes readers curious right away.
Immediacy & Engagement	Read: Notice how readers are pulled in quickly because the boy wants something important right now: to join the Pet Club with his tiny elephant. Classroom Activity: Write a first-person sentence that begins with a strong feeling, such as 'Today I knew...' or 'I could not wait...'.
Story Scenes & Summaries & Unique Structures	Read: Notice that some parts feel like full scenes, such as arriving at the Pet Club, while other parts move quickly to keep the book short and focused. Classroom Activity: Write one detailed scene of a character being excluded and one summary sentence that moves the story ahead to the solution.
Flashback & Flash Forward & Cliffhangers	Read: Notice that this book mostly stays in the present, which keeps the emotional action clear for young readers, but page endings still make readers wonder what will happen next. Classroom Activity: Add a cliffhanger ending to a page in your own story, such as 'Then I saw who was waiting by the gate...'.
Tension & Suspense & Surprise	Read: Notice the tension when the boy hopes to join but is told no, and the surprise when he finds someone else with an unusual pet who understands. Classroom Activity: Write 3 sentences that build tension before a character meets an unexpected new friend.
Page Turns and Chapter Breaks	Read: Notice how page turns matter in this picture book, especially around the Pet Club rejection and the discovery of the girl with the skunk. Classroom Activity: Plan a 4-page picture-book style story and mark where a page turn should reveal a problem or a solution.
Performance	Read: Notice how this story works well for read-aloud performance because readers can change their voice for the unkind club members, the gentle boy, and the hopeful ending. Classroom Activity: Practice reading the Pet Club scene and the new club scene with two different tones, then write one stage direction like '[sadly]' or '[brightly]' into your dialogue.
Personality	Read: Notice the boy's quiet kindness, the tiny elephant's charm, and the new friend's confidence as they shape the story's pace and mood. Classroom Activity: Write 3 personality words for your main character and show each one through an action.
Humor	Read: Notice the light humor in the idea of a tiny elephant and other uncommon pets, which keeps the serious theme of exclusion balanced for young readers. Classroom Activity: Write a funny but kind detail about an unusual pet joining a club.
Pause	Read: Notice the emotional pause after the boy is excluded, giving readers time to feel his sadness before the story moves toward hope. Classroom Activity: Write a short paragraph and add one line by itself to create a pause after a hurtful moment.
Poetry and Poetic Devices	Read: Notice the book's gentle, almost poetic language and how simple phrases carry big feelings about friendship and belonging. Classroom Activity: Write a 3-line poem about a pet and owner who stay together even when others say no.
Repetition	Read: Notice how repeated ideas about belonging and welcome help young readers remember the message of Strictly No Elephants. Classroom Activity: Write a repeating line for your own story, such as 'In our club, everyone belongs.' and use it 3 times.
Rhythm	Read: Notice the smooth rhythm of the sentences, which helps the story feel calm even during hard moments. Classroom Activity: Write 2 sentences with a steady rhythm by using a repeated pattern, such as 'We walked... We waited... We wondered...'.
Punctuation	Read: Notice how punctuation helps shape feeling, especially in dialogue and in moments of surprise or firmness around club rules. Classroom Activity: Write 3 versions of the same sentence using a period, question mark, and exclamation point to show different feelings about joining a club.
Questions	Read: Notice the questions readers may ask while listening: Why can't the tiny elephant join? What will the boy do now? Who else feels left out? Classroom Activity: Write 2 questions your character asks after being excluded, then answer one through the story.
Compare-Contrast	Read: Notice the contrast between the closed Pet Club and the open new club, and between exclusion and acceptance. Classroom Activity: Make a T-chart comparing the old club and the new club, then write 2 compare-contrast sentences using 'but' or 'instead.'
Objects	Read: Notice how objects like the club sign and the pets themselves carry meaning about rules, identity, and belonging. Classroom Activity: Choose one object in your story, such as a sign, leash, or club badge, and write how it changes from the beginning to the end.
Threes	Read: Notice how listing a few welcoming examples can make the ending feel full and satisfying, as more than one unusual pet is included. Classroom Activity: Write a set of 3 club rules for a new inclusive club, or name 3 unusual pets who join.
Whitespace & Negative Space	Read: Notice how a picture book like this uses short text and open space so feelings land clearly, especially in quiet moments of exclusion and connection. Classroom Activity: Write a page with only 1 or 2 short sentences and leave space for a picture that would show the feeling.
Art & Graphics	Read: Notice how the illustrations help pace the story by showing the tiny elephant's size, the characters' expressions, and the welcoming final group. Classroom Activity: Sketch one scene from your story and write a caption that matches the mood of the picture.
Interactives & Gamification	Read: Notice how students can interact with the book by spotting unusual pets, noticing welcoming choices, and predicting what the new club will be like. Classroom Activity: Create a 'Welcome Club' badge or mini card game where each card shows a different pet and one sentence about why that pet belongs.

Pace-Write It!

20-Minute Classroom Flow\nRead (5 min): Read aloud the pages where the boy and his tiny elephant go to the Pet Club, are turned away, and meet the girl with the skunk. Ask students to listen for where the story feels slow and where it feels faster.\n\nNotice (5 min): Discuss: Where did Lisa Mantchev slow the story down so we could feel the boy's hurt? Where did the story speed up when friendship and hope appeared? Chart two columns: 'Slow to show feelings' and 'Fast to move action.' Add examples such as the Pet Club rejection, the quiet pause after it, and the quick beginning of the new club.\n\nWrite (7 min): Students write a short picture-book scene about a child and a pet being left out, then finding or making a place where everyone belongs. Writing frame: 'I went to __ with my __. First, __. Then someone said, "__." I felt __. Soon I met __ with a __. We decided to __ because __. Now __.' Encourage students to use one pause mark, one line of dialogue, and one repeated welcome line.\n\nShare (3 min): Partners read their scenes aloud and point out one place where they slowed down a feeling and one place where they sped up the action. Invite 1-2 volunteers to share a strong repeated line about belonging.\n\nExit ticket: Complete this sentence on a sticky note: 'A writer can slow down a story by __ and speed it up by __.'

Pace-Write-Read Connection

Teach this book using the Pace-Write-Read method — Tool 13: Firsts.

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