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. The other elephants immediately realise that the grey elephant must be Elmer and applaud him for his best joke ever. 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. Once painted, they - and the other jungle creatures - no longer recognise him. One day, Elmer decides that he wants to look like all the other elephants, and paints himself grey in order to 'blend in'. The stories are suitable for early exploration of cultural diversity. He has a cheerful and optimistic personality, and he loves practical jokes. Satoshi Kitamura carried out the Japanese translation.Įlmer is an elephant with yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, blue, green, black and white squares arranged as a patchwork.

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.

The books are published in the United Kingdom by Andersen Press and were published in the United States by HarperCollins originally, Andersen press USA now publishes in America. It was inspired by the mascot of the Bordeaux zoo (which closed in 1974) in France. McKee enjoyed traveling and doing books that 'leave things unsaid.Book cover for Elmer the Patchwork ElephantĮlmer the Patchwork Elephant (often shortened to Elmer) is a children's picture book series by the British author David McKee.Įlmer was first published by Dobson Books in 1968, and re-issued with re-drawn illustrations in a slightly shortened version by Andersen Press in 1989. McKee enjoyed traveling and doing books that 'leave things unsaid.' His first book for Lothrop was Snow Woman, of which Publishers Weekly said, 'It is McKee's superb humor-conveyed almost solely in the illustrations.that wins the day.' Of his second Lothrop book, Who's a Clever Baby, Publishers Weekly had this to say: 'Grandma's alliterative frenzies are fascinating and readers will find Baby's manipulative stubbornness vastly amusing.' Since 1964 he published a number of successful books for children, including the King Rollo stories, which he helped animate for British television. Later, while a student at Plymouth Art College, he began selling his cartoon drawings to newspapers.

Elmer's Colors by David McKee