Elmer the Patchwork Elephant
Encyclopedia
Picture book
A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. The images in picture books use a range of media such as oil paints, acrylics, watercolor and pencil.Two of the earliest books with something like the format picture books still retain now...
series by the British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
author David McKee
David McKee
David McKee is a British author and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. He has used the pseudonym Violet Easton. He is frequently referenced as David McKee.-Biography:...
. They are published in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Andersen Press
Andersen Press
Andersen Press is a British book publishing company. It was founded in 1976 by Klaus Flugge, and was named after Hans Christian Andersen. Random House has a holding in the company and has a strong association with Andersen....
. Over 20 book titles have been created since 1989, and it has sold nearly 5 million copies in 40 languages around the world. The Japanese
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
translation was made by Satoshi Kitamura
Satoshi Kitamura
is a renowned children's picture book author and illustrator, famous for quirky perspectives, brilliant watercolours, attention to detail and unique characters...
. The character has also been turned into a children's TV series.
Elmer is an elephant
Elephant
Elephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
who has a colourful body, with yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, green, black and white arranged as a patchwork
Patchwork
Patchwork or "pieced work" is a form of needlework that involves sewing together pieces of fabric into a larger design. The larger design is usually based on repeat patterns built up with different colored shapes. These shapes are carefully measured and cut, straight-sided, basic geometric shapes...
. He has a cheerful and optimistic personality, and he loves practical jokes.
The character features in a wide range of merchandising.
Themes
The Story of Elmer the Patchwork Elephant is suitable for an early exploration of the themes and issues relating to the concept of DiversityMulticulturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, as Elmer discovers that when he tries to change his appearance in order to "blend in" with the other elephants, they no longer recognise him, or accept him as one of their own. This makes Elmer sad, and he experiences how it feels to be treated like an outcast, after being ostracised by his old friends. It's only when it begins to rain, and the grey paint that Elmer has covered himself with starts to disappear, that Elmer's "true colours" are revealed, much to the surprise and delight of his friends, who much preferred his multicoloured and fun loving persona. Following their happy reunion, the elephants reassure Elmer that they love him because of his differences, and not in spite of them, and they celebrate by painting themselves in multi-coloured paint, in recognition of Elmer's special and unique appearance, and his fun loving personality.
Titles
- Elmer (1989)
- Elmer Again (1991)
- Elmer on Stilts (1993)
- Elmer and Wilbur (1994)
- Elmer in the Snow (1995)
- The Elmer Pop up Book (1996)
- Elmer and the Wind (1997)
- Elmer Plays Hide and Seek (1998)
- Elmer and the Lost Teddy (1999)
- Elmer and the Stranger (2000)
- Look! There’s Elmer (2000)
- Elmer and Grandpa Eldo (2001)
- Elmer’s Concert (2001)
- Elmer and Butterfly (2002)
- Elmer’s New Friend (2002)
- Elmer and the Hippos (2003)