The Elephant
Publisher: Pushkin
Olive’s dad lives in the shadow of a great grey elephant. It looms over him at breakfast, blocking out the light, and follows him on his slow journey to and from work. Because elephant makes Dad quiet and sad with raincloud eyes, Olive spends lots of time with Grandad, who always has a way of cheering her up – from singing songs to making paper aeroplanes.
Olive knows she has to work out how to get rid of the elephant and make her Dad smile again – but how? With the help of her Grandad and her friend Arthur, she begins to think about the little things in life that bring colour to the dark days.
This lovely book with short chapters and lively illustrations is perfectly pitched at 6-8 year olds who might have a grown-up in their life suffering from depression or grief. Whilst it deals with a sensitive topic, the book never becomes dark or bleak; in fact, Olive comes to terms not only with her Dad’s mental health difficulties, but with her Grandad’s and even her own as well.
