The Shadow Elephant

by Nadine Robert

Valerio Vidali (Illustrator)

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Book cover for The Shadow Elephant

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A gentle story about sadness showing that sometimes all you need to feel better is the openness of someone who accepts you as you are.


A Financial Times Best Children’s Book of 2021


This is a subtle story about an elephant who is feeling sorrowful, and nothing seems to interest him or lift his spirits. Illustrated with a striking contrast between shadow and light, the moody blue elephant appears to live in a different world from his colorful savanna friends. Empathy is a tricky emotion for children and adults alike to grasp, but The Shadow Elephant manages to walk the line between sadness, understanding, and emotional connection. Here we witness, in a story that unfolds at a natural, gentle pace, that it’s okay to be sad and to show it, and that this sorrow is not necessarily a problem to be fixed, but is a feeling to acknowledge without judgement. This simple act of acceptance and validating another creature's feelings is subtle, yet, it is an essential step to true empathy.

  • ISBN10 1592703127
  • ISBN13 9781592703128
  • Publish Date 26 November 2020
  • Publish Status Transferred
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint Enchanted Lion Books
  • Format Hardcover
  • Pages 48
  • Language English