Elmer
By David Mckee
HarperCollins(1989)

Elmer The Patchwork Elephant

Elmer was different.
Elmer was patchwork.
Elmer was yellow and orange and red and pink and purple and blue and green and black and white.
Elmer was not elephant colour.

My two year old son and I both love the story of Elmer the patchwork elephant.

Elmer is the story of an elephant who was different to all the other elephants because he was patchwork and therefore lots of colours. Of course life being as it is Elmer did not want to be different, he wanted to be elephant colour like all the other elephants.

So one day he hatches a fabulous plan. He rolls around in berry juice and becomes elephant colour and finally one of the crowd. However life as a grey elephant is a little boring for Elmer and he finds out it isn't that bad being different at all.

The book ends with Elmer giving all the elephants the biggest surprise of all which makes them laugh "as they never had before". They decide to honor him with a parade each year where they decorate themselves to become colourful like him.

The moral of the story is be happy with who you are.

It has all the elements that a pre-schooler loves in a book.

• Lots of elephants.
• Lots of jungle animals.
• A focus on colours.
• Adventure and drama.
• A simple yet involved story line.
• A great big BOO!
• A message.

We were very happy when the pantomime of Elmer The Patchwork Elephant came to Dubai where we live so we took our 2 year old along. He loved it so much and cried his heart out when it was finished.

In the show Elmer kept disappearing and the children in the audience had to call him back onto the stage. After we got home he kept playing a game with us which required us to go and look for Elmer.

So between regular readings of the book and the experience of going to the stage show Elmer has become a firm favorite in our house. We even gave our son a framed poster of Elmer for his bedroom wall.

There are many other books in the Elmer series by David McKee as well as some fun activities you can get to help bring the story of Elmer to life, such as puzzles to games.



 Carmen Benton
Editor baby-books-guide.com

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This link will take you directly to Amazon.com where you can buy the book of Elmer.

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Elmer The Patchwork Elephant Products

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Elmer Posters

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Elmer The Elephant Soft Toy

Elmer the Colorful Plush Elephant

Elmer is soft plush with bright colors just like the stories. He is the perfect companion to have while you read each of the books. You can machine wash him and he meets all the safety codes.
Elmer is approximately 12".

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Elmer The Patchwork Elephant Video

This is a fun animated version of the story of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant.

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