Elmer is a beautiful, multicoloured patchwork elephant who decides he is tired of being different and disguises himself as a ordinary grey elephant, before realising that the other elephants love him for who he is. I think this message is particularly valuable for boys, as our society puts pressure on boys and men to appear to be dull and drab and not stand out in the way that they dress.
I recently spotted two more Elmer books in the local Oxfam Books and Music shop. My son usually asks me to read both of these stories together as they both feature Elmer's black and white cousin Wilbur.
Another Elmer item that came from a charity shop is this money box, which was bought on a trip to Buxton last autumn.
And my son calls this knitted blanket the 'Elmer blanket' because it is made of brightly-coloured squares. This was purchased in the local Oxfam shop.
Another handcrafted Elmer item is this cross-stitched picture I made using a chart from a book called More Storybook Cross-Stitch by Gillian Souter.
I'm linking up with Magpie Monday at Me and My Shadow. I'm looking forward to seeing what other pre-loved items people have found.
This post was also added to a favourite blogpost linky at TheAnaMumDiary and
