Elmer and Rose

Another beautiful book by this well-loved author and illustrator in which we are introduced, along with Elmer and his cousin Wilbur, to a completely pink elephant called Rose. Rose needs help to find her way back to her herd and Grandpa Eldo asks Elmer and Wilbur to follow tracks to locate them. Before they meet Rose, the two cousins are watching a herd of grey elephants:

‘Jolly fellows,’ smiled Wilbur, ‘but not exactly unique.’

‘They’re all unique,’ said Elmer. ‘Just not as different as us. Imagine a herd like you or me.’

And that’s what is explored adeptly through the text and illustrations of this lovely book. Whether you stand out from the crowd or not, each individual is different and differences don’t have to stop people from getting on.

Elmer and Wilbur are not sure why Rose thinks the grey elephant they see en route is strange, but the reason becomes clear when they finally spot Rose’s herd from the top of a hill – they are all pink! Until her adventure, Rose hasn’t met elephants who look different from her and her herd. From Elmer and Wilbur’s point of view, the elephants may all be pink, but as Elmer commented at the beginning of the story when referring to grey elephants, they’re all still unique.