Theme · Elephants
Children's books about elephants: from Elmer to the real herd
Many British and Irish children meet the elephant through Elmer, the patchwork elephant. Here's that book with its publisher and the age BookTrust gives, why the elephant is so present in children's books, and two things product descriptions leave out: the herd is almost always missing, and the elephant's famous memory is real.
Why elephants
For a small child, size is the first order of the world, and the elephant sits at the very top: it's the largest land animal. Watch a three-year-old discover the word “enormous” and you understand why the elephant wins them over at once.
There's also the trunk, a tool no other animal has and one you can imitate with your arm. A theme a child can act out with their own body lasts longer than one they only look at.
And there's what picture books have given the animal: gentle, patient, a little slow. That's why the elephant is so often the big one who looks after the small ones. It says more about the books than about the animal.
What we don't claim: that elephant books offer something other animal books don't. No study looks at one species in particular. Two studies on humanised animals in general are on our page about animals.
An elephant classic, checked
The age comes from BookTrust. Other elephant books weren't covered by our research, so they're not listed here.
Elmer
David McKee · Andersen Press, 1968 · BookTrust: interest age 2 to 5
The patchwork elephant who wants to be grey like the others, colours himself with berries and loses what made him unique. The idea fits in two sentences, and it has lasted for decades. For the child who is starting to notice they're different from someone in their group.
The missing herd, and the elephant's memory
In picture books, the herd is almost always missing. Elephant cows live in one of the most complex social structures in the animal world: family, herd, community and clan. A herd numbers around ten animals of several generations and is led by the oldest female. Bulls leave their birth herd at around 14 to 16 and then live largely alone.1
The elephant's memory is real. Elephants can tell apart the calls of more than a hundred others.1 Karen McComb's team at the University of Sussex describes the old matriarchs as the social and ecological memory of their family, and shows that disrupted social structure clearly harms what the family learns.2
What that gives you when reading. You can count the elephants in the pictures and look for who leads the group. In most picture books, you'll find a single animal or a small family along human lines. To show the real herd, a non-fiction book makes a good companion.
Or a story of their own
If your child should be the hero
- Your child crosses the dry season with an elephant herd and discovers that only the oldest female remembers where water is left.
- A young bull has to leave his herd, and your child goes with him until he finds other young elephants.
- Your child meets an elephant who remembers everything that has happened on this savannah for a hundred years, and asks her to tell it all.
Frequently asked questions
- What age is Elmer for?
- BookTrust gives Elmer an interest age of 2 to 5. It's a picture book to read aloud, with an idea simple enough for a two-year-old and deep enough for a five-year-old.
- Do elephants really have good memories?
- Yes, there's truth in it. Elephants can tell apart the calls of more than a hundred others, and research at the University of Sussex describes the old matriarchs as the social and ecological memory of their family.
- How do elephants really live?
- Females live in herds of around ten animals of several generations, led by the oldest and most experienced female. Bulls leave their birth herd at around 14 to 16 and then live largely alone or in small groups.
- What is Elmer about?
- A patchwork elephant who wants to be grey like the others. He colours himself with berries, nobody recognises him, and in the end he learns that being different is what makes him Elmer.
Sources
- 1.WWF Germany, species profile: the African savannah elephant. (in German)What it confirms: The structure of family, herd, community and clan; a herd of around ten animals led by the oldest female; bulls leaving at around 14 to 16; the calls of more than a hundred others.
- 2.University of Sussex, Mammal Communication and Cognition Research (Karen McComb): Elephants, social and cultural knowledge.What it confirms: The old matriarchs as a store of social and ecological information for their family, and the effect of social disruption on what the family learns.
Other themes: Animals, Autumn, Dinosaurs, Rabbits, Moles, Witches, Unicorns and Fire engines. Read also: How children understand death. Or children's books by age, growing up, topic by topic and all the illustration styles.