Tag: elephants

The Trouble With Elephants

The Trouble With Elephants

by Chris Riddell (Walker, 1988)

Riddell_Trouble With Elephants

A whimsical picture book featuring rotund, fun-loving anthropomorphised elephants—imaginative manifestations of the narrator’s stitched elephant doll—engaging in everyday suburban life. Though guilty of perpetuating some commonly held misconceptions, Riddell’s text and illustrations nevertheless capture the joyousness of elephants at play.

 

 

A Lemon-Yellow Elephant called Trunk

A Lemon-Yellow Elephant called Trunk

by Barbara Softly; ill. Tony Veale (Chatto, Boyd & Oliver, 1971)

Softly_Lemon-Yellow Elephant

What seems at first a tale of whimsy turns instead into a rather clumsily executed parable of individual worth and acceptance. Thankfully Tony Veale draws a creditable elephant (and round-snouted giraffes). The floating artwork and limited use of colours leave an impression.

 

 

Jumbo

Jumbo: The Unauthorised Biography of a Victorian Sensation

by John Sutherland (Aurum, 2014)

Sutherland_Jumbo

An indictment of human nature, jocose in delivery but starkly illustrated by way of a potted history of man’s gross mistreatment of elephants over the centuries. Special attention is paid to Jumbo, who, behind his fame, was just another sorely abused pachyderm.

 

 

Derelict Space Sheep