"There was one a herd of elephants. Elephants young, elephants old, elephants tall or fat or thin. Elephants like this, that or the other, all different but all happy and all the same colour. All that is except Elmer."
Thus begins a book series I love to share with Kindergarten. There are more than ten books in this series. Why do I love Elmer?
- He is kind.
- He is an individual.
- He is brave.
- He is a problem solver.
- He loves a joke.
- He likes to make others happy.
- He is friendly.
- He is unique.
In the first book Elmer has a great idea for a practical joke. He covers his body with berry juice and makes himself all grey. Then he heads back to join the herd wearing his disguise. "After a while Elmer felt that something was wrong. But what? He looked around : same old jungle, same old bright sky, same old rain cloud that came over from time to time and lastly same old elephants."
Can you guess what is about to happen? The best part comes right at the end. The other elephants enjoy this joke so much they decide to have an annual Elmer day. Everyone parades in bright colours except for Elmer himself who comes decorated in an ordinary elephant colour.
There is so much merchandise around about Elmer. I have the toy, the cassette tape and a place mat. In New York I also saw a toy of Rose. Here are some teaching materials. The picture below shows Elmer with his cousin WIlbur!
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