In Elephants Cannot Dance Chapter Summary

The main character in Max is the Champion by Sean Stockdale is a young boy, Max, who has a powerful imagination. While Max is in class he also imagines the activities, he is doing as sports activities. For example, during handwriting practice he imagines he and his friends playing javelin throw. This book shows many cool sports activities but there is a hidden detail. The main character, Max, is deaf and has asthma. The interesting fact about this book is that the book never explains to the reader that Max is deaf or has asthma through words. The writer and illustrator show this through pictures. There are pictures of Max wearing a hearing aid and has an inhaler in his hands or beside him near his bed. The main message I see in this book is

The author tells the story through the dialogue of the characters. In the beginning of the story, Piggie invites Gerald to dance however Gerald refuses saying that an elephant cannot dance. Piggie still encourages Gerald to try dancing with her. She even tries to teach him. This section of book encourages physical activity and can be a section for children who dance to relate to because Piggie is performing and giving ballet dance steps instructions. However, they can also be simple instructions for children to react to as the instructions are; for example, ‘jump’, ‘back’, ‘forward’, ‘move your arms’ and more simple instructions. This section can can be an opportunity for children who do not dance to try following Piggie’s instructions. Piggie tries to help Gerald learn how to dance ballet; however, Gerald keeps doing the opposite of what Piggie is saying. He loses confidence and becomes sad that he cannot dance. Piggie’s friends from dance class show up and say that want to learn how to dance like an elephant. Piggie and her friends ask Gerald to teach them how he dances. Gerald happily teaches his friends and his friends happily learn how to dance like an elephant. The story showcases that dance is free. Dance is also a common physical activity for children and even if they cannot dance the specific forms of dance such as ballet, they are free to just move their body and have fun. The book is also about resilience. Gerald starts to lose confidence and feels sad that he cannot dance. However, his friends encouragement help him get back up to try and regain confidence in himself. They even tell Gerald to teach them how he dances thus showing that dance is free and it is not necessary to always dance to specific dance steps. In addition “physical activity is heavily affected by the social environment, where children can learn behaviors