How to Make an Elephant Craft – Dill the Little Elephant

Posted on June 1, 2013 by viviankirkfield

Today is Friday – I have a children’s book review to add to the Perfect Picture Book resource list that author Susanna Leonard Hill is building on her blog. For more wonderful reviews from authors, educators and others who contributed today, please go here

My picture book pick today is one of the treasures I scooped up in Singapore last week at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. In addition to incredible presentations given by inspiring speakers, there were over a dozen book launches.

Dill the Little Elephant

Retold by Ming & Volker

Illustrated by Yusof Gajah

Publisher: Integra Majujaya (2013)

Ages: 3 and up

Themes:

Friendship, courage, family, animals

Opening Lines:

“One day in the forest, a baby elephant was born. He was so small, his parents called him Dill.”

Synopsis:

When the elephant herd must leave their grazing field, little Dill cannot be found and is left behind. The little elephant strikes out to find his family. He meets two musicians, a frog and a cricket, who invite him to join their band. The journey to find his parents is difficult, but Dill never gives up hope.

Why I like this book:

I bought this wonderful picture book at the Asian Festival of Children’s Content in Singapore and was honored to meet the illustrator and have time to speak with him.

From left to right: Mr. Ramachandran (executive director of the National Book Development Council of Singapore), my apologies for not remembering the name of the lady next to him, Evelyn Wong (author and consultant), Yusof Gajah and me.

Mr. Gajah’s elephant illustrations are known around the world and I was captivated with the simple pictures and bold brilliant use of colors. I also loved the message of friendship, courage and hope.

How a parent can use this book:

· Journey into the use of colors when drawing…young children will love the illustrations and will be inspired to create their own.

· Would recommend reading from the pictures for younger children…the text might be more appropriate for the older child.

Related Activities:

ELEPHANT HANDPRINT PICTURE

http://kiboomukidscrafts.com/elephant-craft-for-earth-day/

http://www.preschoolpost.com/OctoberElephants.html

For more information on other titles by Yusof Gajah: http://www.yusofgajahlingard.com/children-titles-2011.html

To see his solo exhibition and more on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/yusofgajah

To see an elephant paint a self-portrait (thanks to Patricia Tilton for the heads-up about this): http://www.wimp.com/elephantpaints/

Participating in the 2013 Asian Festival of Children’s Content was an amazing experience…it was a thrill to present my book to parents, teachers and conference attendees during my program: A Picture Book is Worth a Thousand Words.

No batteries required…powered by a child’s imagination! Click this link to purchase a copy

What books have you read with your child this past week?

Elephant Art (lovewondering.wordpress.com)
Choosing an Ethical Elephant Encounter (takingtotheopenroad.com)

33 thoughts on “How to Make an Elephant Craft – Dill the Little Elephant”

Joanna on June 1, 2013 at 3:24 am said:

So, so lovely and your crafts are fabulous. What a great privilege to be involved in this festival!

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 3:00 pm said:
  
  I was honored to participate…and what a fantastic experience to fly half-way around the world…especially since it was my FIRST international flight ever. 🙂 I hope they will want me back next year. 🙂
  
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Patricia Tilton on June 1, 2013 at 7:34 am said:

What a charming book for kids with a great message. Am glad you’re sharing a special book from the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. Looking forward to a more detailed account of your time there.

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Patricia Tilton on June 1, 2013 at 7:37 am said:

What a charming book for kids with a great message. Your hand elephants are wonderful. Am glad you’re sharing a special book from the Asian Festival of Children’s Content. Looking forward to a more detailed account of your time there.

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 2:58 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Pat! Every day I had to walk past the tables piled high with books from the book dealers who had been invited to participate at AFCC. That was truly hard to do without buying something…good thing I knew I had only so much room to spare in my suitcase. 🙂
  I’ll try to share some of the session highlights in the next few posts. 🙂
  
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  - Patricia Tilton on June 1, 2013 at 6:09 pm said:
    
    Great — will look forward to your posts. Meant to tell you I posted on my FB page a video an elephant painting a self-portrait.
    
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    - viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 9:42 pm said:
      
      What an amazing video, Pat! I added the link to my Perfect Picture Book review post and shared your FB post. 🙂
      
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  - Patricia Tilton on June 1, 2013 at 6:30 pm said:
    
    Here’s the video link about the elephant.
    
    http://www.wimp.com/elephantpaints/
    
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    - viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 9:43 pm said:
      
      Thanks, Pat! You are awesome!
      
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bamauthor on June 1, 2013 at 8:29 am said:

Perfect book to use for both older and younger children to inspire creativity for the whole family.

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 2:55 pm said:
  
  Just get out the paper and markers…after reading this story, kids will be inspired to create their own masterpieces. 🙂 At the conference, there was a book launch session where an illustrator invited kids to come up to the stage and draw…while he spoke to the audience, the kids were happily engrossed in their work. At the end of the session, he awarded a prize to each of the children for their art.
  Glad you liked the book…the colors are captivating.
  
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Tracy Campbell on June 1, 2013 at 12:15 pm said:

Welcome back, Vivian.
Friday’s book pic sounds wonderful.
I love the elephant hand prints. Very creative.
I’m glad you got to promote your super book,–the one where no batteries are required. Love that tag line.
Tracy 🙂

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 2:49 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Tracy! The conference was incredible…and I was thrilled to be able to share ‘Show Me How!’.
  It was hard not to buy more picture books…but I knew I had to lug them home in my suitcase. 🙂
  
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  - Tracy Campbell on June 1, 2013 at 4:17 pm said:
    
    I hear you. Buying PB’s can be addictive. 🙂
    
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    - viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 6:42 pm said:
      
      They gave us a canvas shopping bag when we registered at the conference (they were sweet and had mine waiting at the hotel when I checked in Saturday morning at 1am :)…in the bag was the conference book…with all the sessions laid out and the speakers’ list with photos (so helpful in figuring out who everyone was) AND several picture books the National Book Development Council had just published…so I had a head start before even buying any. 🙂
      
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julie rowan zoch on June 1, 2013 at 1:23 pm said:

Welcome home! Love the handprint activity!

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 2:47 pm said:
  
  It’s good to be back, Julie! But I was pleasantly surprised by the ease of traveling that great distance…and I definitely didn’t want to say good-bye to the wonderful people I met in Singapore.
  Glad you liked the handprint elephant…I had never seen elephants done that way. 🙂
  
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Susanna Leonard Hill on June 1, 2013 at 8:20 pm said:

So glad you had such a wonderful time at the festival, Vivian! This book looks wonderful, and I love the activities – especially the handprint elephant! How cute is that? 🙂 Thanks for sharing this one!

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- viviankirkfield on June 1, 2013 at 9:47 pm said:
  
  I had an amazing time, Susanna…now I know why everyone raves about going to conferences. The sessions were stellar…I learned so much! And my presentations went well…after the 1st blogging panel, people came up to tell me that I inspired them to try blogging when I relayed how I had started blogging and participating in social media although I thought a tweet was the sound a bird made. Now I can’t wait for the Denver SCBWI Fall Letters and Lines Conference in September. 🙂
  
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Marylin Warner on June 1, 2013 at 10:27 pm said:

What wonderful hand-printed elephants, Vivian. Makes me want to try them!
I’m glad you had such a good time at the conference.

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- viviankirkfield on June 2, 2013 at 12:09 am said:
  
  I know, Marylin. Aren’t the elephant handprints charming? I’ve done turkeys and other handprint activities…but this is a new one for me. 🙂
  
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Perfecting Motherhood on June 1, 2013 at 11:18 pm said:

I think we’re going to make art with finger prints and hand prints this summer. The kids have been talking about it and we’ll have so time, so it’s the perfect opportunity.

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- viviankirkfield on June 2, 2013 at 12:11 am said:
  
  Milka…what a great idea for the summer. Here’s another idea for mess-free ‘painting’…go outside on a really hot day and find a little shade…take a bowl of water and paint brushes and the kids can have a ball, painting figures, letters, designs on the sidewalk or pavement…when you are finished, there is no mess to clean up and everyone is a little cooler. I did this with my grandson last summer and he loved it. 🙂
  
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  - Perfecting Motherhood on June 2, 2013 at 7:10 pm said:
    
    That’s a great idea, although I’m afraid that water will evaporate quickly on the hot sidewalk. We’ll definitely try it out in front of our house, when we can find a little shade during the day.
    
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    - viviankirkfield on June 3, 2013 at 2:14 am said:
      
      Yes, give it a try…they can always paint each other with water…that would be refreshing. 😉 🙂
      
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Catherine Johnson on June 2, 2013 at 5:15 am said:

Sounds lovely and those crafts are really cute. I’ve been painting elephants they are fun to do. Great picture from the festival, Vivian

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- viviankirkfield on June 2, 2013 at 6:08 pm said:
  
  I’m going to try to post more…are we connected on Facebook, Catherine? I’ve posted an album there and shared a few from other people who were at the conference. 🙂
  
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RHODA HARAP on June 2, 2013 at 8:01 am said:

The last few posts I’ve received have been in unreadable text. See if when you receive this it’s that way. Don’t know what’s happenening. Rho (talk to you soon to hear all the exciting details of your adventure)

Date: Sat, 1 Jun 2013 07:25:01 +0000 To: rhodaah@hotmail.com

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- viviankirkfield on June 2, 2013 at 6:13 pm said:
  
  Hi sweet sister!
  Sorry about that…I thought I had corrected it…wonder if others have experienced the same problem with my posts.
  It was great talking with you earlier…so much more to tell. 🙂
  
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thiskidreviewsbooks on June 2, 2013 at 11:18 am said:

What a great craft! 😀 I like the message!

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- viviankirkfield on June 2, 2013 at 6:16 pm said:
  
  Thanks, Erik! Glad you enjoyed the book and activity.
  BTW, you were TERRIFIC on the Children’s Speak Up session…every adult in the room (and it was a packed audience) was extremely impressed with your poise and accomplishments. I also mentioned your blog at my two blogging sessions as an example of how kids can blog successfully. 🙂
  
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  - thiskidreviewsbooks on June 2, 2013 at 6:41 pm said:
    
    Thanks Ms. Kirkfield! 😀
    
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