“Poe Won’t Go” is an adorable picture book by Kelly DiPucchio and illustrated by Zachariah Ohora, about a huge elephant marooned in the middle of a town. Poe sat “smack-dab in the middle of the only road in town.” No one knew how he got there, but they also didn’t know how to make him move.

A traffic jam formed, horns honked and people yelled. Poe still sat blocking the road. The people in the town thought of everything they could to try to get him to leave. Tap dancers, pot and pans banging, trombones and megaphones. Begging, booing, bribing — nothing worked.

They tried magnets and motivational speakers, copters, cranes and even clowns. When there was not even one idea left that hadn’t been tried, a small girl (in a hijab) asked the mayor if anyone had asked Poe why he wouldn’t go. So she does.

Sometimes, you just need to ask. And listen.

What a great lesson for young readers everywhere. Ask. Listen. Be a good friend.

Buy this cute picture book for a teacher you know. Read it to your youngster. Enjoy.

Please note: This review is based on the final, hardcover book provided by Disney-Hyperion  Books, the publisher, for review purposes.