The pictures at the end of the book, of the elephants celebrating ‘Elmer Day’ are a wonderful riot of colour and pleasure. Elmer is a wonderful children's story with the underlying message that it is alright for everyone to be different and that we all possess unique qualities. I shared this book with Nursery children who were deeply engrossed by Elmer and his great patch work. The stories are suitable for early exploration of the themes and issues relating to the concept of Diversity. 28 May 2016 was declared Elmer's Day by publisher Andersen Press. [2] Libraries and bookshops across Britain held Elmer themed events. [3] External links [ edit ]

Look at the decorated elephants on Elmer Day. Which is your favourite? Can you explain why? Can you describe one of the elephants to a friend who has to guess which one you are thinking of? Elmer is the story of an elephant that is noticeably different to the others; he is a brightly coloured patchwork elephant. However Elmer did not want to be different to the other elephants as they laughed at him, so he tried to make himself ‘elephant colour’ like the others. After hatching a plan and rolling around in berry juice to make himself ‘elephant colour’ Elmer decides that being part of the crowd is too boring and realises that being different isn’t so bad after all. At the end of the story Elmer makes the other elephants laugh like they have never laughed before which makes them decide to have a parade in honour of Elmer and they decorate themselves to become just like him.

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Visual Closure is the ability to fill in parts of a form in the mind’s eye to determine shape or a whole object. Filling in the missing parts of our Elmer works on this area. Unfortunately, Elmer thinks that maybe the other elephants are laughing at him – for being different – instead of laughing with him – for being funny and loveable. Lo que me ha gustado de la novela es que a pesar de lo que pueda parecer en la sinopsis, Elmer no es repudiado o discriminado por los demás elefantes como pasa, por ejemplo, en El patito feo. Él simplemente es distinto a los demás pero se llevan todos muy bien y se divierten con sus locuras. The primal focus of the story is on ‘Elmer ‘who is an elephant that does not resemble the other elephants in his herd. They are all grey – whereas he is remarkably dissimilar with patchwork with lots of different colours! Although Elmer keeps all the other elephants happy with his witty nature, deep down he starts to feel saddened by the fact that he looks somewhat different to the other elephants. Therefore as a consequence of this Elmer decides to disguise himself. He achieves this through shaking some berries from a tree onto the ground; he then submerges himself onto these berries. The end result is that his patch work disappears and he emerges as a grey elephant.

Planning an English lesson about Elmer the Elephant? You can find all the activities you need to keep your pupils entertained right here. If you'd like some ideas to get you started, then look no further: Questions for Philosophical Discussion » Summary Elmer explores questions like “How do differences impact friendships?” and “Must we fulfill our social roles and obligations?” Thanks to Wiebke, I’ve discovered my first Elmer book. I’m very grateful. This is a gift worthy book for new babies and for young children. Use the message template and help your child write a message to Elmer from the other elephants. Talk about what they might want to say to him letting them choose their own message. Children might want to say for example that they like him just the way he is or that they find him really funny. Design a colourful elephant Elmer is an elephant with a patchwork body of a variety of colours. He is a cheerful and optimistic character. However, when Elmer changes his appearance to fit in to his surroundings he is no longer recognisable by the other elephants. Of course this makes Elmer sad that he is no longer accepted and begins to understand how it feels to be treated like an outsider. When it rains, the grey paint which Elmer had covered himself with is washed away and his 'true colours' are once more revealed. To the joy of the group Elmer realises that it is his differences which make him who he is.

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In the book, the elephants only laugh when Elmer is around; in a sense, they rely upon him. It’s unclear, however, if Elmer is obligated to fulfill this specific role of the jokester. Some argue that the assumption of obligation relies upon some sort of contract or promise. A police officer, for example, swears to serve their community. Though Elmer did not agree to entertain the other elephants, it would be fruitful to explore the relationship between promises and obligation. If Elmer had promised to be the community jokester but then realized he really didn’t want to, or even couldn’t, would it be OK for him to stop? Questions for Philosophical Discussion Differences and Friendship Children’s adults will be just as entertained as they are, and in my opinion that’s one thing that makes a great children’s picture book. I can see why this is a classic. Why not use this Elmer Word Mat to help children learn all the vocabulary associated with this story? It includes words such as herd, jungle, patchwork and different to help pupils write and talk about the story. Want to take complex and abstract concepts like empathy, acceptance, uniqueness, and diversity to the next level with kids? This digital, E-BOOK, Exploring Books Through Play: 50 Activities Based on Books About Friendship, Acceptance and Empathyis filled with hands-on activities rooted in interactive, hands-on, sensory play that focus on creating a well-rounded early childhood education supporting growth in literacy, mathematics, science, emotional and social development, artistic expression, sensory exploration, gross motor development and fine motor skills. Imagine you had a clone: they look like you, talk like you, and like the same things. Would your clone be a good friend? Would you rather be friends with this clone or your best friend?

Age 3-5 Thiswonderful picture book was first published 25 years agoand nowa modern classic. It tells the story of Elmer, a patchwork elephant living amongst a herd of ordinary elephants. He is popular, makes all the other elephants laugh and is well known in the jungle. But Elmer gets fed up with being the odd one out and decides he wants to blend in. He finds a way to look just like the other elephants. but this proves notto be such a good idea… The fun colourful illustrations convey the story extremely well and offer us a great pictorial sense of emotion. In particular my year one class love the picture where it’s raining and all the elephants are laughing and enjoying themselves and Elmer’s patchwork is revealed. Did you know there are still people among us who don't know about Elmer? How sad for them! You must take it upon yourself to educate them. If someone does something nice for you, do you have to do something nice for them, even if you didn’t say you would?Can you count the berries on the bush? Can you count the coloured patches on Elmer? Can you count how many elephants are in the herd? Can you count how many other animals are in the jungle? Elmer the patchwork elephant is delightfully, colourfully different to all the other elephants and he’s usually the one who makes everyone laugh. Yet, one day, Elmer starts to feel like the odd one out and so leaves the elephants to go off on his own. Finding a berry bush, Elmer shakes the berries from the tree and rolls in them until he’s covered all over in their purply-grey juice. Now he’s elephant colour, Elmer can return to the herd and fit in unnoticed – unfortunately, it’s rather boring being like everyone else and Elmer can’t help his irrepressible nature getting the better of him.