The storybook Elmer The Patchwork Elephant by David Mckee explores the idea that one's appearance does not reveal one’s true self. In Elmer the Patchwork Elephant, Elmer is a visually distinctive elephant with coloured patchwork on his skin. Elmer attempts to disguise himself grey to camouflage with the rest of the elephants. He altered his appearance, however, that did not define himself because “It was Elmer who kept the elephants happy. Sometimes he joked with the other elephants, sometimes they joked with him. But if there was even a little smile, it was usually Elmer who started it” (Mckee). When the book Elmer the Patchwork Elephant mentions that Elmer generally initiates the smiles of the other elephants, the reader understands that