Elephant Me

by Giles Andreae

The empowering story of little elephant Num-Num, who discovers the importance of simply being YOU! From the creators of international bestseller and much-loved classic Giraffes Can't Dance.

It's time for the Elephant Games! One by one, the young elephants compete to impress King Elephant Mighty and earn their Elephant Name.

Nina is the strongest, so she becomes Elephant Strong.
Norcus is the loudest, so he becomes Elephant Noisy.

Little Elephant Num-Num thinks he will never discover his own special talent - until he learns that the very best thing you can be is YOU!

Giraffes Can't Dance has been a much-loved family favourite for over 20 years, and has sold over 6 million copies worldwide.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

Published December 1, 2020

About the author

Giles Andreae is the author of several children's books, including the best-selling Giraffes Can't Dance, illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees. He is the creator of Purple Ronnie, one of the most successfully licensed cartoon characters in his native England.

Giles lives with his wife and three children in Notting Hill, England.

Reviews

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elephant Me by Giles Andreae and illustrated by Guy Parker-Rees is an absolutely delightful story about Num-Num and his bid to become Elephant Me. All the other elephants did special things which meant King Elephant Mighty gave them a special Elephant Name. But Num-Num didn’t have any particular talent. He was friendly, kind and true to himself, and just wanted to be ME. But would King Elephant Mighty allow Num-Num to be Elephant Me? Highly recommended for little people learning how to just be 😊

With thanks to Hachette Children’s Books AU for my beautiful hardcover copy to review.

[Ang -PNR Book Lover Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic children’s book. The pictures are stunning the story is cute. And the meaning is spot on. My daughter and myself really enjoyed this one.

[Sanja_Sanjalica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful lesson for kids (and adults as well) about a little elephant whose greatest talent is being himself. A book to hug.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Elephants! Who doesn’t like elephants? So besides having elephants going for it and bright, vibrant artwork, this is truly a beautiful and accepting story about being brave and accepting who you are. Sometimes, who you are doesn’t fit the “mold” or role others may expect from you and that is okay. People, or in this case, animals, will love and accept you if they are your friends. The true qualities that matter are what is inside of you: kindness, empathy, compassion. Breaking from traditions isn’t always easy, but it is possible and it takes strength and courage to just be you.

There is so much heartfelt love in this book. The basic plot is this: the elephant king (Elephant Mighty) names all of the young elephants after they put on a show and impress him. When one young elephant has nothing to show that impresses him (our protagonist), the King ridicules him and the young elephant leaves, convinced that he is worthless for who he is - well, it is not enough. Living in another area and being a kind soul, he befriends animals of other species and they eventually hear his story. They encourage him to return, letting him know that he is wonderful as he is. So he returns and the King learns something new himself about what makes an elephant - or anyone - special.

Highly recommended for quiet reading or storytimes, this is an empowering book that steps outside of the “everyone is special” and instead encourages children to recognize that it is not just okay, but wonderful to pursue who they are regardless of traditional expectations.

[idreamofallthebooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being your true self is its own reward, but it doesn’t mean that it is easy! And it is this message that we learn from Num-Num as he attempts to learn how to be okay with who he is – a kind, calm and friendly elephant. I thought it was quite clever how Andreae also showed us how others might be feeling this way, but that they might not know how to escape the image they have created for themselves.

Thank you @tandemcollectiveglobal and @hachettekidsanz for gifting me a copy to read and review!

[Paul Graham Terpstra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book.
Be who you are, that is enough. You don’t need some special talent. You are special as you are because you are the only you there is.

[Željko Filipin · Rating 3 out of 5]

An elephant just wants to be himself.

[Lisa D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Too cute!

[Lara Bate · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about an elephant who is himself and gets called "Elephant me".

[Capn · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Giraffes Can't Dance", but beleaguered.

When the publishers said, "Another like this!", Andreae and Parker-Rees delivered. Only, of course, we've all read Giraffes Can't Dance, so....