Elephant Island

A shipwrecked elephant makes his tiny island a home for the many friends who come to the rescue, in the new picture book from New York Times Illustrated Book Award winning author.

Selected for The New York Times Best Children's Books 2022

Caught in a storm, Arnold the elephant washes up on a tiny island. Along comes Mouse in a little dingy and Arnold steps aboard...uh-oh! They use the wreckage to make the island bigger. And here’s Dog—can this boat take Arnold's weight? Uh-oh!

None of the animals can save the shipwrecked elephant but each broken vessel provides new materials for another intricate construction. Wheels and pulleys create a Ferris wheel, an elevator, a waffle maker. All the animals work as a team to build increasingly intricate constructions that turn the desert island into a fun park city. Soon there is a whole community and enough space for everyone!

As with all Leo Timmers picture books, Elephant Island has many layers of discovery. Tapping into the childhood pleasure of contraptions, this cheerful picture book is full of complex and playful visual detail and humour that Leo Timmers’ readers love. Preschoolers who enjoy Meccano and Lego will find joy on every page with the creation of each new imaginative construction, packed with mechanical detail on bright double page spreads. Elephant Island is a runaway hit in Europe.

"Yet another triumphant experiment for the award-winning Timmers." The New York Times

Picture Book finalist, Teach Early Years Awards 2022.

Other books by Leo Timmers:

Monkey On The Run

Where Is The Dragon?

Who’s Driving?

Gus’s Garage

Franky

Bang!

“"When a 'boisterous wave' sinks Arnold the elephant's boat--the stormy sea is rendered in almost palpably rough dark brushstrokes--he's stranded on a tiny rock barely the size of his foot. But though several seafaring animals offer to rescue him, each boat is swamped as soon as the pachyderm steps aboard. No matter: like Timmers (Monkey on the Run), Arnold proves a gifted and deeply silly engineer. Salvaging the wreckage, the elephant rigs up an increasingly elaborate, improbable structure atop the diminutive rock, transforming it into a multilevel affair on which the group dances under a starry blue sky and 'all night long sang whale songs.' As is true for any trend-setting spot, 'Soon everyone was setting course for Elephant Island,' with each new animal deliberately contributing its respective vessel to create a towering attraction--complete with a waffle maker--that's portrayed with subtle sculptural dimensionality. When a second squall gives everyone the chance to head home, the group demurs; it's a picture book tribute to the power of collective, constructive play, and to heeding the call of freedom."--Publishers Weekly”

"Yet another triumphant experiment for the award-winning Timmers."

"This light-tension, winking tale of a makeshift homecoming is sure to delight audiences at story time."

"A refutation for anyone who thinks their island is too full to accommodate outsiders."

“The tender yet dynamic verbal and visual narrative never falters in this engaging picture book.”

“A picture book tribute to the power of collective, constructive play, and to heeding the call to freedom.”

"From endpapers to assemblages, Belgian Leo Timmers never ceases to delight."

"A fascinating and funny tale."

"The sheer inventiveness of the entire endeavor is to be commended. Come for the elephant. Stay for his island."

Leo Timmers was born in 1970 in Belgium. At the age of 12 he started to draw comics and later trained in graphic design. He illustrates for magazines and newspapers and has released many successful picture books. He has a large following as one of Belgium’s pre-eminent picture book artists.

This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.