Christmas Special: Elmer’s Christmas – Inspire unlimited creativity and capacity!

22nd December 2020

Christmas falls on this Friday, and the picture book brought to you by KnewSTEP is about this long-waited traditional holiday! Written by British author David John McKee, Elmer’s Christmas is wonderful for children ages 7-8 to learn about the joyous traditions and feel the festivities for themselves.

Before the night Papa Red (the elephant version of Santa Claus) visits, Elmer leads the excited young elephants to prepare gifts for Papa Red. In the process, the young elephants have lots of fun — building snow elephants, snowball fights for the first time and decorating and piling gifts under the Christmas tree. Papa Red will gather the gifts and bring to those in need.

Elmer delivers the important message of giving thanks and paying kindness forward in this picture book. In reality, the British prepare gifts, or homemade treats and gingerbread, to wish one another warmth and joy in this special holiday season.

In the picture book, the young elephants not only celebrate Christmas, but they also see snow. If you must know, elephants live in the subtropical regions where there is no snow, but in children’s imagination, anything is possible! Just like Elmer who is a colourful plaid elephant that looks completely different from other elephants. He tried to paint himself grey, but all his companions accepted him as he was. Elmer brings a lot of happiness to everyone because of his uniqueness.

These picture books are a wonderful opportunity to introduce Christmas traditions and customs and allow children to feel the festivities and beauty of cultural difference. There isn’t a deliberate need to feed them on hard knowledge, but rather guide them to see the world through the sea of books. Quoting Einstein “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand. ” We can allow children to run freely in the world of imagination and creativity, and perhaps one day they will create their own world with their own voices.

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Photo Credit:
1.https://book.douban.com/subject/6760940/
2.https://www.sohu.com/a/283255506_99965880