"Long ago in the city of Bagdad there lived an elephant. His name was Abu-ul-Abbas - or Abu for short. He was the biggest of all the elephants belonging to the Caliph who then ruled Bagdad. ... The Caliph's name was Haroun of Raschid. He was the most famous of all the rulers of the Eastern world. ... At the same time, far away in the West, there was another empire ruled by a mighty Emperor called Charles the Great. (He is often known nowadays as Charlemagne)."
Three ambassadors have arrived in Bagdad with gifts of gold and ivory. They are amazed to see elephants - no one from the West at this time had seen such creatures. The Caliph (in a gesture that feels both diplomatic and egotistical) decides to gift his largest elephant to Charles the Great. The journey is long - travelling through different cities and countries and across the ocean. Abu is accompanied by his young handler Selim.
Image source (three images in this post)
Full TableIn this picture book version Abu arrives to great fanfare and later he travels with the Emperor to war.
"He became one of the wonders of the Western Empire, as the Caliph had promised, and he lived in fame and comfort with his friend Selim to look after him."
In reality "Abul-Abbas lived for at least eight years after his arrival, according to later accounts. In 810, the elephant accompanied Charlemagne’s army during a campaign against the Danes, when he died suddenly near the Rhine, but the exact cause is not known. Scholars have suggested illness or cold weather as likely factors. Nevertheless, his death ended a remarkable journey that had carried him across Asia, the Middle East, and Europe." History Skills
Charlemagne’s contemporary was a man named Harun al-Rashid, the caliph of Baghdad, who ruled over Baghdad and the Abbasid Caliphate from 786 CE until he died in 809. Well-respected and regarded as a “wise and just ruler,” Harun al-Rashid was a patron of the arts, music, and poetry throughout his life. During his reign, Baghdad flourished in terms of architecture, where Harun al-Rashid built the most beautiful palace of his time in the city, and his reign was one of peace and stability. These rulers had one thing in common: their thirst for knowledge. They both pushed for education. Charlemagne insisted on improving literacy among his subjects as well as their learning of Latin. Meanwhile, Harun al-Rashid’s patronage of the arts and literature followed his desire to establish his House of Wisdom. This House, where books from far and wide were compiled and translated into Arabic, was an institution that could be compared with the Library of Alexandria. Charlemagne and Harun al-Rashid were curious about the world around them hundreds of years before the Renaissance. The Collector
This book is from 1975. I found it in a library because I have been sorting and culling pictures of book covers. You could easily overlook this book because first of all it does look old, and secondly there is no back matter, so unless you are curious, as I was, you may have no idea that Charlemagne was actually gifted a real elephant. This is a book that you should share with your class followed by the two other titles below. A book like The Emperor's Elephant is a fantastic way to bring history to life for young students. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time dipping into this aspect of world history.
Companion book:
This book reminded me of this wonderful title:
C. Walter Hodges first came to prominence as the author/illustrator of Columbus Sails in 1939, which the “Junior Bookshelf” hailed as “The best book never to have been awarded the Carnegie Medal.” Widely acclaimed for the treatment of its subject matter, its powerful narration, and accompanying dramatic line illustrations, Columbus Sails was the first of a number of vivid historical novels written and illustrated by Hodges, including The Namesake (nominated for the 1964 Carnegie Medal), The Marsh King (1967), and The Overland Launch (1969). He is internationally recognised both for his indispensable and learned books about the Elizabethan theatre (for which he gained the Kate Greenaway Medal for illustration in 1964) and his vital illustrations to other authors' texts.
I now discover he did the cover of one of my favourite childhood books - The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge and other famous covers such as The Silver Sword.
