Book by David McKee
Elmer and the Rainbow is one of the books in the ELMER series of books by David McKee.
Elmer is a patchwork elephant who has fun and imaginary adventures. His elephant friends are the usual color, gray. Elmer is the leader because he thinks about and solves problems.
In this particular book, the rainbow is gray and Elmer wants to give it his colors. To do that, he has to find where the rainbow touches the ground. “What are we waiting for?” said Elmer. “Let’s start searching.” If Elmer gives his colors to the rainbow, will he turn gray like all the other elephants? Of course not, this is a children’s book.
At the happy ending, his friends ask how he could give away his colors and still have them. Elmer says, “Some things you can give and give and not lose any. Things like happiness or love or my colors.”
Free Printable
Here is my FREE PDF page of Elmer for your students to color: ELMERpattern anELMERpatterntofoldcolorandcut
This book is perfect for the beginning of the school year when sharing, happiness, and kindness to others are being emphasized.
Miss Frog colored her PDF on her iPad. She used the PDF and she filled in the spaces with a variety of colors and textures. She has many talents and is an artist.
This is one of the PDFs colored with crayons. By using different shapes, colors, and lines, each child may create a different elephant.
And finally, this is one Elmer filled in using a computer and background papers. Each square can be different.
There are quite a few Elmer the Elephant books, each with a little lesson on kindness or getting along. They are highly recommended for primary grades.
Thank you for reading,
Miss Frog and Carolyn

Introducing Miss Frog, artist and author
Miss Frog is a vegetarian, artist, reader, writer, and believer in the power of crystals.
Miss Frog colored the Elmer the Elephant PDF on her iPad as an example. She used the PDF and she filled in the spaces with a variety of colors and textures. She has many talents and is an artist.
Elmer’s Christmas by David McKee is a sweet story in the Elmer elephant book series. While the adults work on festive preparations, Elmer takes the young ones up the mountain. Seeing their first snow, they have a fun time. They find a tree they can “easily return.” Good idea! In this story, the baby elephants want to give people gifts, too, not just receive presents. And Elmer, a star among the elephants, helps the young ones meet Papa Red. Miss Frog is a star who helps Miss Owl read and create art.