''Elmer the Patchwork Elephant'' (often shortened to Elmer) is a children's

picture book A picture book combines visual and verbal narratives in a book format, most often aimed at young children. With the narrative told primarily through text, they are distinct from comics, which do so primarily through sequential images. The images ...

series by the British author

David McKee David John McKee (2 January 1935 – 6 April 2022) was a British writer and illustrator, chiefly of children's books and animations. For his contribution as a children's illustrator, he was UK nominee for the biennial, international Hans Chris ...

The books

''Elmer'' was first published by Dobson Books in 1968, and re-issued with re-drawn illustrations in a slightly shortened version by

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 "because it is easier to pronounce and spell than Flugge". Random House has a holding in the company and a s ...

in 1989. It was inspired by the mascot of the Bordeaux zoo (which closed in 1974) in France. The books are published in the United Kingdom by

and were published in the United States by

Harper Collins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Corp ...

originally, Andersen press USA now publishes in America. Forty-one book titles have been created since 1989, and the series has sold more than eight million copies in fifty languages around the world.

Satoshi Kitamura is a Japanese children's picture book author and illustrator. In 1983, he received the Mother Goose Award for the Most Exciting Newcomer to British Illustration for ''Angry Arthur'' (written by Hiawyn Oram). In 2000, his book, ''Sheep in Wolves' ...

carried out the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

translation.

Themes

Elmer is an

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...

with yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, green, black and white squares arranged as a

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 repeating patterns built up with different fabric shapes (which can be different colors) ...

. He has a cheerful and optimistic personality, and he loves

practical joke A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...

s. The stories are suitable for early exploration of

cultural diversity Cultural diversity is the quality of diverse or different cultures, as opposed to monoculture, the global monoculture, or a homogenization of cultures, akin to cultural evolution. The term "cultural diversity" can also refer to having different cu ...

. One day, Elmer decides that he wants to look like all the other elephants, and paints himself grey in order to 'blend in'. Once painted, they - and the other jungle creatures - no longer recognise him. He returns to the herd and the other elephants stand quietly, until Elmer can't take the quiet any more and he lifts his trunk and then, at the top of his voice, shouting "Boo!", which unknowingly surprises the other elephants. The other elephants immediately realise that the grey elephant must be Elmer and applaud him for his best joke ever. When it begins to rain, the grey paint that Elmer has covered himself with starts to disappear, and Elmer's "true colours" are revealed, much to the delight of his friends, who preferred his multicoloured and fun loving personality. 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 (and Elmer paints himself grey), in recognition of Elmer's unique appearance and personality.

Merchandise

''Elmer the Patchwork Elephant'' also features in a wide range of merchandising. His first story is also featured and animated in ''Anytime Tales'', a storytelling animated programme narrating five of

and

Tony Ross Anthony Lee Ross (born 10 August 1938) is a British author and illustrator of children's picture books. In Britain, he is best known for writing and illustrating his Little Princess books and for illustrating the Horrid Henry series by Frances ...

' stories. The story of Elmer was originally narrated by British voice actor

Johnny Morris Johnny or Johnnie Morris may refer to: * Johnnie Morris (actor) (1887–1969), American comedian and actor *Johnny Morris (television presenter) (1916–1999), British television presenter *Johnny Morris (footballer) (1923–2011), English football ...

, who died on 6 May 1999, aged 82.

Sophie Aldred Sophie Aldred (born 20 August 1962) is an English actress and television presenter. She has worked extensively in children's television as a presenter and voice artist. She played the Seventh Doctor's companion, Ace, in the television series ''Do ...

also read his first story which was also animated by Mike Hibbert in an episode of Words and Pictures from 1993, featuring the letter E.

Musical stage

A musical stage version created by Jonathan Rockefeller was adapted by Suzanne Maynard Miller, with songs by Allison Leyton-Brown. After an initial engagement in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

(December 2017), ''Elmer the Patchwork Elephant'' show embarked upon a tour of the UK January 2019.

Titles

* 1. ''Elmer'' (1989; originally published in 1968) * 2. ''Elmer Again'' (1991) * 3. ''Elmer on

Stilts Stilts are poles, posts or pillars that allow a person or structure to stand at a height above the ground. In flood plains, and on beaches or unstable ground, buildings are often constructed on stilts to protect them from damage by water, wav ...

'' (1993) * 4. ''Elmer and Wilbur'' (1994) * 5. ''Elmer's Colours'' (1994) * 6. ''Elmer's Day'' (1994) * 7. ''Elmer's Friends'' (1994) * 8. ''Elmer's Weather'' (1994) * 9. ''Elmer in the Snow'' (1995) * 10. ''The Elmer Pop-Up Book'' (1996) * 11. ''Elmer and the Wind'' (1997) * 12. ''Elmer Plays Hide and Seek'' (1997) * 13. ''Elmer and the Lost

Teddy Teddy is an English language given name, usually a hypocorism of Edward or Theodore. It may refer to: People Nickname * Teddy Atlas (born 1956), boxing trainer and fight commentator * Teddy Bourne (born 1948), British Olympic epee fencer * Tedd ...

'' (1999) * 14. ''Elmer and the Stranger'' (2000) * 15. ''Look! There’s Elmer'' (2000) * 16. ''Elmer and Grandpa Eldo'' (2001) * 17. ''Elmer’s

Concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

'' (2001) * 18. ''Elmer and

Butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the Order (biology), order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The ...

'' (2002) * 19. ''Elmer’s New Friend'' (2002) * 20. ''Elmer and the

Hippo The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extant ...

s'' (2003) * 21. ''Elmer's

Jigsaw Jigsaw may refer to: * Jigsaw (tool), a tool used for cutting arbitrary curves * Jigsaw puzzle, a tiling puzzle that requires the assembly of interlocking pieces Arts and media Comics * Jigsaw (Marvel Comics), a supervillain and arch-enemy of ...

Book'' (2003) * 22. ''Elmer and

Snake Snakes are elongated, Limbless vertebrate, limbless, carnivore, carnivorous reptiles of the suborder Serpentes . Like all other Squamata, squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping Scale (zoology), scales. Ma ...

'' (2004) * 23. ''Elmer and Rose'' (2005) * 24. ''Elmer and Aunt Zelda'' (2006) * 25. ''Elmer's Baby Record Book'' (2006) * 26. ''Elmer and the

Rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...

'' (2007) * 27. ''Elmer's First Counting Book'' (2007) * 28. ''Elmer's Opposites'' (2007) * 29. ''Elmer and the Big Bird'' (2008) * 30. ''Elmer's Special Day'' (2009) * 31. ''Elmer and Papa Red'' (2010) * 32. ''Elmer and Super El'' (2011) * 33. ''Elmer, Rose and Super El'' (2012) * 34. ''Elmer and the

Whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

s'' (2013) * 35. ''Elmer And The

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

'' (2015) * 36. ''Elmer's

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

'' (2015) * 37. ''Elmer and the Race'' (2016) * 38. ''Elmer and the Flood'' (2016) * 39. ''Elmer and the Tune'' (2017) * 40. ''Elmer's Walk'' (2018) * 41. ''Elmer's Birthday'' (2019) * 42. ''Elmer and the Lost Treasure'' (2020)

Reception

The stories are suitable for early exploration of the themes and issues relating to the concept of

Diversity Diversity, diversify, or diverse may refer to: Business *Diversity (business), the inclusion of people of different identities (ethnicity, gender, age) in the workforce *Diversity marketing, marketing communication targeting diverse customers * ...

. 28 May 2016 was declared Elmer's Day by publisher

. Libraries and bookshops across Britain held Elmer themed events.

External links

UK Publisher Website

US Publisher Website

References

https://www.broadwayworld.com/uk-regional/article/ELMER-THE-PATCHWORK-ELEPHANT-To-Embark-on-UK-Tour-20181025 * https://www.elmertheshow.com/ {{Authority control Children's fiction books British picture books Series of children's books Books about elephants 1968 children's books 1989 children's books Andersen Press books