And there are only 24 pages in the book, and so many things changed my mind after reading ..

The book tells about things quite ordinary. About a girl, about her mother and father. About how a girl plays hide and seek, goes to a museum and studies at an art school. About how she receives guests, walks around the zoo, chooses a new coat in the store with her mother and bakes a cake with her ...

Such little things, right? Everything - like everyone else, ordinary everyday life.

With the exception of one thing, the girl does not see the elephant in the zoo, nor her new clothes, nor the easel at school, nor even her mother's face ... and she never has.

Artist: Lapshina Diana

Publisher: Foma, 2013

Series: Nastya and Nikita

ISBN: 978-5-91786-110-4

Pages: 24 (Offset)

Weight: 86 g

Dimensions: 270x210x2mm

As a child, you usually take everything for granted.

Childhood noisily rattles its boots up the stairs of the school during breaks, bangs a ball, rustles bicycle tires, rustles the pages of books, sings and laughs loudly, gets angry, sad, rejoices, makes friends, smells of mother’s pies and new rubber boots, shows colorful dreams, leaves salty on the lips the taste of the vacation sea and burns on my knees from evil nettles in my grandmother's village garden.

And of course, in this colorful kaleidoscope, you rarely think that people live next to you who are deprived of some of this. Like the heroine of the book, the blind girl.

I think, as a child, these 24 simple pages would have been a shock to me. In general, I was very violently worried about the book characters. I will definitely read The Invisible Elephant to both Nina and Zakhar.

Not even so much to, say, teach empathy.

The girl in this book, I must tell you, gives little thought to our or anyone else's sympathy.

She lives a full life, laughs a lot and dreams a lot, enjoys every day and all those simple events that you and I so rarely notice and appreciate so little.

This book is about the fact that happiness is always within us.

Alina Dalskaya
One common world

About an unusual children's book

In the children's project "Nastya and Nikita", the book "The Invisible Elephant" was published, the heroine of which is a blind girl. Many readers and experts call this book "special". The author of the book, Anna Anisimova, and the chief editor of the project, Alina Dalskaya, told the story of its creation.

Alina Dalskaya:

In this surprisingly bright book, it would seem that nothing special happens. The girl talks about how she played hide-and-seek with her mother at home, how she went to the museum with her dad, heard about the elephant there and was amazed at how huge it was, then drew it in an art studio and went to the zoo. The usual story of an ordinary girl about her life, through the episodes of which a piercing truth is revealed to the reader: an invisible elephant has become part of a big world in which a child deprived of sight lives fully and brightly.

The text of this book came to us as a result of a competition that we hold annually for authors on the Samizdat page of the Moshkov electronic library. I must say that the last competition was very productive - according to its results, we selected about a dozen texts. But here's what is surprising: Anna Anisimova's "Invisible Elephant" was not marked by any of the jury members - I think because the topic seemed "not childish." Nevertheless, he became the undisputed leader in the nomination "Reader's Choice Award", winning it by a huge margin!

This reader's choice forced us to take a closer look at Anna's text. It became obvious that the topic is in great demand by society, which means that it is worth considering what can still be done to make the book see the light of day. The finalization was mainly reduced to making the plot understandable not only for adults, but also for children. The illustrations made by Diana Lapshina, which help to subtly and delicately reveal the theme, played a big role in this.

I asked Anna why she wrote this story. And this is what she answered: “In 2000, when I entered the Novosibirsk State University, it launched the first Russian program “Accessible Higher Education for People with Disabilities”. Through this program, the university has been able to support young people who are blind, visually impaired, diagnosed with cerebral palsy and others in their desire to pursue higher education. And I remember very well that at the age of sixteen I realized that I simply do not know how my peers live, how they study, what opportunities they have. And all why? Because I have never met them in my entire life. And it seems to me that this is wrong. We do not separate in society children who have a mother and father, from children who have only a mother or only a father. Then why do we separate children who see well from children who see poorly or not at all? We ourselves create different worlds where there can be one common world.”

I absolutely agree with Anna that this book is not about disability, and not about empathy. Rather, it is about the fact that all people are different, each has its own characteristics and capabilities. Someone is hard of hearing, and someone has a perfect ear for music. One draws beautifully, and the other even writes illegibly. Someone wins running competitions, and someone hardly moves. By and large, all people have completely different opportunities - in some ways we are geniuses, and in some ways we are absolutely unsuccessful. But is this the main thing? The main thing is that we all need love, friendship, care, warmth. And that we ourselves can give all this to those who are nearby.

Of course, it is very important to create an environment in which it would be convenient for people with different abilities. But we are a publishing house, we don't know how to build ramps. But we do children's books. We wanted the child to recognize himself in the main character - cheerful, inquisitive, loved by his parents. And I realized that if a person is a little different, then these are not obstacles for communication, friendship and support.

Anna Anisimova:

One day I thought: what can I tell the children from my small but real life experience so that it is new for them? And I realized that I could try to convey my experience of communicating with blind people.

In 2000, when I entered Novosibirsk State University, they launched the program "Accessible Higher Education for People with Disabilities." Thanks to this program, the university was able to support young people: the blind, the visually impaired, those diagnosed with cerebral palsy, and others - in their desire to get a higher education. And I remember very well that at the age of sixteen I realized that I simply don’t know how my peers live, how they study, what opportunities they have. And all why? Because I have never met them in my entire life. And it seems to me that this is wrong. We do not separate in society children who have a mother and father, and children who have only a mother or only a father. Then why do we separate children who see well from children who see poorly or not at all? We ourselves create different worlds where there can be one common world.

My story came out not problematic, but rather introductory. This book is not meant to teach empathy. I wanted the child to recognize himself in my heroine - cheerful, inquisitive, loved by his parents. And I realized that if a person is a little different, then this is not an obstacle for communication, friendship and support.

"Invisible Elephant"Selected chapters

I got to drive. I count to ten loudly and go to look for my mother. Here is the door, the corridor with rough wallpaper, dressed up plump hanger, but no mother. I open the door to the kitchen. I listen. The clock ticks, the refrigerator hums, nothing else is heard. But just in case, I reach the table and rummage under it with my hand - it's empty. Then I need to go to the living room: there is nowhere else to hide in the kitchen. There is no one behind the door in the living room. Both under the sofa and under the table. I go to the window and hear my mother breathing. I pull back the curtain and touch my mother with my hand - I found it. Found!

How I love hide and seek! I know all the hiding places in our house, so what! After all, I can only play at home. And I love hide and seek! And now it's my mother's turn to look for me. Mom blindfolds her eyes with a scarf (she wants to be honest) and slowly begins to count. I pass a table, a sofa, a door, rough wallpaper in the corridor, a door to my mother's room. I go to a large closet and try to open the door quietly. I climb inside and freeze among my mother's skirts and dresses. There are a lot of them here - as if overgrown. And they smell so delicious of mom that I breathe, breathe in this mother's forest, breathe ...

And I can't even hear my mom finding me. Mom opens the closet doors and is silent. What with her? I reach out my hands to her face: my mother's lips smile, but her eyebrows frown a little. Maybe she's worried that I've rumpled something? I quickly straighten all the skirts and dresses and hug my mother with all my might. She strokes my head. She is not worried!

Dad and I are going to the museum. In museums, we are allowed to touch any scarecrow, various stones and things. Others can't, but we can. In the first room, dad puts his hand on my shoulder and asks:

- I'm with a girl. Shall we see the exhibits?

Someone frowningly sniffs in response:

- Just be careful. And then he was already walking here alone ... Like an elephant in a china shop! He touched and touched and dropped all the spears.

Papa promises the gloomy one that we will be very careful. And I really want to see an elephant - where is he? I have never touched him yet. Dad explains that the elephant can only be seen in the circus or the zoo. And "an elephant in a china shop" is what they call a clumsy person. Because the elephant is the largest animal. If he could enter the museum, he would probably destroy everything here.

“Come on,” says dad, and quickly leads me along. — Look!

Dad takes my hand and runs it over something cold and very long.

- These are elephant tusks. Two teeth that stick out next to the trunk - a long, long nose. Like this.

Dad puts his hand to my nose and makes an elephant's trunk for me. I touch my father's hand-trunk to imagine... And how does an elephant walk with such a nose? It's inconvenient.

“And the tusks are so valuable,” Papa continues, “that elephants are hunted because of them ...

I run my fingers over the tusks and listen carefully. Teeth that are taller than me and dad! The nose is like a father's hand! Is he really that big, this elephant?!

At night I dream that the elephants are lying on the grass and looking at the sky. And I'm floating in the sky. Elephants ask their mothers:

What does this cloud look like?

But the elephants are silent: either they don’t know, or they are embarrassed to say. Then I scream:

- On you! I'm like you! I'm an elephant too! If you jump up, you can hug me with your trunk! Like a hand!

But the elephants don't even move. Elephants are so heavy that they cannot jump.

Illustrations by Diana Lapshina.

I got to drive. I count to ten loudly and go to look for my mother. Here is the door, the corridor with rough wallpaper, dressed up plump hanger, but no mother. I open the door to the kitchen. I listen. The clock ticks, the refrigerator hums, nothing else is heard. But just in case, I reach the table and rummage under it with my hand - it's empty. Then I need to go to the living room: there is nowhere else to hide in the kitchen. There is no one behind the door in the living room. Both under the sofa and under the table. I go to the window and hear my mother breathing. I pull back the curtain and touch my mother with my hand - I found it. Found!

How I love hide and seek! I know all the hiding places in our house, but so what! After all, I can only play at home. And I love hide and seek! And now it's my mother's turn to look for me. Mom blindfolds her eyes with a scarf (she wants to be honest) and slowly begins to count. I pass a table, a sofa, a door, rough wallpaper in the corridor, a door to my mother's room. I go to a large closet and try to open the door quietly. I climb inside and freeze among my mother's skirts and dresses. There are a lot of them here - as if they were growing. And they smell so delicious of my mother that I breathe, I breathe in this mother's forest, I breathe ... And I don't even hear how my mother finds me. Mom opens the closet doors and is silent. What with her? I reach out my hands to her face: my mother's lips smile, but her eyebrows frown a little. Maybe she's worried that I've rumpled something? I quickly straighten all the skirts and dresses and hug my mother with all my might. She strokes my head. She is not worried!

Dad and I are going to the museum. In museums, we are allowed to touch any scarecrow, various stones and things. Others can't, but we can.

In the first room, dad puts his hand on my shoulder and asks:

I'm with a girl. Shall we see the exhibits?

Someone frowningly sniffs in response:

Just be careful. And then he was already walking here alone ... Like an elephant in a china shop! He touched and touched and dropped all the spears.

Papa promises the gloomy one that we will be very careful.

And I really want to see an elephant - where is he? I haven't touched him yet. Dad explains that the elephant can only be seen in the circus or the zoo. And "an elephant in a china shop" is what they call a clumsy person. Because the elephant is the largest animal. If he could enter the museum, he would probably destroy everything here.

Come on, - says dad and quickly leads me along. - Look!

Dad takes my hand and runs it over something cold and very long.

These are elephant tusks. Two teeth that stick out next to the trunk - a long, long nose. Like this.

Dad puts his hand to my nose and makes an elephant's trunk for me. I touch my father's hand-trunk to imagine... And how does an elephant walk with such a nose? It's inconvenient.

And the tusks are so valuable, - dad continues, - that they hunt elephants because of them ...

I run my fingers over the tusks and listen carefully. Teeth that are taller than me and dad! Nose - like daddy's hand! Is he really that big, this elephant?!

Dad and I go home and sniff around. Mom is cooking something: the oven has made the air stuffy in the kitchen. Mom says that her friend Taika should come to visit us.

What are you cooking? I ask.

And you wash your hands and look, - offers mom.

I do. I love having clean hands. Ready! I stretch out my hands, my mother intercepts them and leads me to a warm baking sheet. Yeah, those bumps must be cookies. There is a tin can next to it - well, this is usually condensed milk, I know! And here's something greasy and soft on a piece of paper... Hmm, it's not clear. I lick my finger. Oh, I climbed into the melted butter!

Cake "anthill"! - I guess.

Come on, don't shake your hands. Let's put an apron on you, let's start sculpting.

Mom crumbles cookies into a large bowl, and I mix them with butter and condensed milk. I have all my fingers in the "anthill"! You can't even see an elephant with such sticky hands.

I'm waiting on the balcony when Taika appears at our entrance. I recognize her by her scent. Mom scolds Taika for pouring a whole bottle of perfume on herself. And Taika laughs at this, that, on the other hand, she will not be hired to work in a luxury ... perfume shop. And I would like to work in a perfume shop - I like Tyka's perfume so much! I like that I can recognize Taika from them. She probably has a whole closet with these perfumes - a bottle for every day.

I'm waiting for the smell. Smells! Came! I feel that Taika is nearby and I start jumping for joy. Taika yells "hello" to me! and asks how are you. And I scream that I was in the museum and saw the tusks of an elephant. Taika screams again that I myself am now jumping like an elephant, and it would be better if I took pity on the balcony - there it is staggering. I'll have to ask my dad to tell Taika that elephants can't jump at all. By the way, it's even good. After all, if elephants could jump, a real elephant quake would happen on Earth!

Taika comes to visit with her son. It is so small: if you touch it, it is smaller than me. But noisy! Runs and stomps. Back and forth, back and forth. He takes my toys, but does not return them to their place. Scattered so much! Elephant in the china shop!

I want to show Taika a new music box. Looking, looking for her everywhere - as if disappeared. Taika scolds her son, but laughs because he is so small! But my mother quickly looks out where the box is, and asks me not to be angry: later everything will fall into place.

Mom and I clean the room after the guests. Indeed, now everything is as usual. As needed. Just like I'm used to.

Mom brings a vacuum cleaner into the room and asks me to clean the carpet. It's not hard for me, I do it often. I pull the cord out of the vacuum cleaner and plug it into the outlet. The vacuum cleaner starts to hum: uu-uu-uu! I hold the brush and run it over the carpet. Woo-woo-woo! Dust and any small debris enter the vacuum cleaner through the brush through the hose. It's like he's eating. Like an elephant with a trunk. Woo-woo-woo! I'm surprised: that's how! The vacuum cleaner is also an elephant! Only without ears.

Before going to bed, my mother sings for me. I'm afraid to be alone at night. But with songs, no. I love songs. And I managed to fall in love with the elephant a little. Maybe he, too, is afraid to fall asleep alone?

I drink with my mom. If an elephant is so big and has big tusks and a nose, then it has big ears. It means that even from afar, he will hear my songs. Don't be afraid, elephant!

Autumn soon. My mother and I go to the store to buy clothes and shoes for me. I try on the coat, touching the big round buttons. They are smooth and pleasant. I put my hands in my pockets - deep. You can hide a lot of chestnuts and quietly touch them with your fingers.

Mom says that you need to choose the color of the coat: there is red and green.

What red? I ask.

Like a tomato, Mom says.

And what green?

Like an apple.

Of course I choose the apple coat! Because apples crunch loudly, and tomatoes squish and drip.

And how. He's also a herbivore. Eat anything that grows. Grass, apples, carrots...

I remember the smells of grass, apples and carrots. Carrots are best for an elephant. Dad said elephants were grey. Probably gray is like carrot. Carrot elephant - it even sounds beautiful.

Mom lets me try on shoes. And I keep thinking about the elephant and put the right shoe on my left foot, and the left shoe on my right. Confused again! My hands will never learn to distinguish the right shoe from the left. Interestingly, does an elephant confuse its tusks - right and left?

In art school, I decide to draw an elephant. I sit separately from the other guys. Like I'm an elephant and I need a lot of space. But in fact, this is Pashka instead of an elephant. Everything falls from him: pencils, sheets of paper, even himself!

Everyone draws a still life on the instructions of the teacher, and I draw an elephant. Everyone paints with brushes, but I paint with my fingers. I put a dot with the index finger of my left hand. And from the point she drew a circle with the finger of her right hand so that the fingers connected. I made a big circle: after all, the elephant is big and fat, because it eats a lot. Now big teeth. Big ears. Long trunk...

The teacher praises my drawing. Everyone surrounds me. That's why there are so many places around - so that others can stand nearby.

Pashka says:

And I can do it too! May I draw with my fingers too?

And drops paint on the floor!

Pasha! - says the teacher.

But the others also begin to ask:

Me too, can I?

I want fingers too!

Everyone wants to be like me.

Everyone wants an elephant.

Children run and play in the park. Their mothers and grandmothers are nearby rustling books or chatting. And my dad and I lie on the grass. We spread the blanket and lie down. Dad looks at the sky and tells what the clouds look like.

On a hare, or something ... Yes, exactly, on a hare - look how long his ears are.

I can see clouds very well. Dad explained to me that clouds are like fluffy cotton wool. I hold the cotton and pull out two strips from it. I know what a rabbit looks like. Like a rabbit! And I saw a rabbit in the village with my grandmother. He has ears like shreds.

Such? - I take my dad by the hand and show him my hare.

Exactly, my dad is proud of me.

I'm so satisfied! You can’t touch a cloudy hare in any way, but mine is easy. I put the rabbit on my father's stomach and laugh.

At my laugh, out of nowhere, the wind appears, and the cotton hare flies away.

That's it! Dad gets up. - The wind chased two hares at once. And drove them both away.

I get up too.

What do clouds look like now?

Dad is silent at first, and then how he screams:

Can not be! Can not be!

It seems to me that he screams louder than all the children in the park. I'm so worried that I might fly away for a cotton bunny.

To whom? On whom? Well?

On your elephant, can you imagine!

That's who!

Dad throws me on a blanket and laughs. I laugh too. I am happy!

The wind will definitely not drive the elephant out of the sky. The elephant is big. If he wants, how he will blow into his trunk! And he will drive away this wind.

I have a holiday! Mom said we were going to the zoo and I would see a real elephant. I'm so glad that I push away both my mother's hand and my father's hand and jump forward.

Carefully! - Mom can't keep up with me. - The boys play football there!

I don't listen to her. I made a trunk out of fists. I jump and trumpet like I'm an elephant myself:

Boo Boo! Boo Boo Boo! Zoo!

And the whole world trumpets with me! Cars - boo-boo-boo! Birds too - boo-boo-boo!

BOOM-M-M! And my head... I crouch and grab my eye. It was the ball that hit me. I hear him roll into the grass.

Can't you see what we're playing? - chokes some boy and runs away.

Mom is already there.

Strongly? She turns me towards her.

Her fingers on my shoulders tremble.

I grit my teeth and shake my head violently from side to side. I know what "no" means.

And dad comes along.

By the way,” he says, “did I tell you that elephants don’t cry?”

At the zoo, we go straight to the elephant. I am in such a hurry that I do not pay attention to the road, to various holes and stones. But mom is on the alert:

To the right is a hole... To the left is a puddle... Now there is a step down... More... Be careful! One bruise is enough for us!

But I'm rushing, I'm ready to lead my mom and dad to the elephant myself!

And here we are at the aviary. Mom finds an empty seat and lets me grab the bars.

The elephant is far away, - says. - Right behind the aviary there is a moat with water. And behind it is a platform. Here is the elephant standing on it. You won't get it, you won't touch it. But it looks like it's big. Higher than you and me combined. He picks up grass from the ground with his trunk and puts it in his mouth. And his ears are like our curtains. They are just as big and wide - I could easily hide behind them ... What else can I say?

Mom gets a carrot.

Will you serve?

Dad puts me on his shoulders. I swing and toss a carrot treat to the carrot elephant. I hear a splash.

Dad cheerfully says:

Flew! So he'll eat soon. You'll see!

But I hear the elephant shuffling away.

Probably went to rest. Everything is on its feet and on its feet, poor fellow, - mom justifies herself.

We stand a little longer, and then we also leave. I turn around to say goodbye, and it seems to me that the elephant is looking at me. I can feel him breathing towards me.

At night I dream that the elephants are lying on the grass and looking at the sky. And I'm floating in the sky. Elephants ask their mothers:

Who does this cloud look like?

But the elephants are silent: either they don’t know, or they are embarrassed to say.

Then I scream:

On you! I'm like you! I'm an elephant too! If you jump up, you can hug me with your trunk! Like a hand!

But the elephants don't even move. Elephants are so heavy that they cannot jump.

Someone rang the doorbell. I hear the steps that dad went to open. And I also hear that it was Pashka from the art school. How strange!

I brought plasticine, - he says. - The teacher told me the address. Mom brought me.

Daughter! They came to you! - Dad calls me loudly.

I'm coming! - I answer loudly.

Here is a door, a corridor with rough wallpaper, a plump dressed-up hanger...

Hey Pashka!

Hello, he says and drops the plasticine. - Ouch.

Pashka, do you want me to call you Elephant?

We start reading. Together with the heroine of the book, we live several episodes from her daily life. Hide and seek at home, going to a museum, making a cake, receiving guests... Everything is casual and familiar, but the children listen very carefully, smile, and often giggle. Everyone laughs at the idea of ​​an "elephant quake" that could happen if elephants could jump.

In the course of the text, certain features of elephants are explained. The guys I have gathered are educated, they can show how tall an elephant is, and they know that it is a herbivore. True, about the tusks, they believe that these are horns, not teeth, - here the author, through the lips of the father of the main character, corrects the listeners. And then we all, just like her, make a trunk out of fists to blow “Boo-boo-boo!”. When we get to the episode where a ball hits a girl in the eye, many people frown knowingly.

My listeners today have a lot in common with the heroine: drawing classes, baking together with mom, lullabies at night, confusing the right and left shoes, even a green coat - everyone has had some of this.

I ask the guys how they differ from the girl from the book. Unexpectedly for me, the audience is stalling. When I was reading The Invisible Elephant at home, the eldest daughter guessed that the heroine was blind already on the second page. I am surprised that this hypothesis does not sound at all in the library: children name some formal differences, like coat color. Even a little arrogant is heard: “I watch where I’m going and I won’t get to where they can hit me with a ball!”

I return the listeners to the text, because hints are so generously scattered over it:

"I reach the table and rummage under it with my hand - it's empty..."

“In museums, we are allowed to touch any scarecrow, different stones and things. Others can’t, but we can…”

“I stretch out my hands, my mother intercepts them and brings me to a warm baking sheet. Yeah, those bumps must be cookies...”

“I am waiting on the balcony when Taika appears at our entrance. I recognize her by her smell…”

“Dad said elephants were grey. Probably gray is like carrot ... "

“Everyone draws a still life on the instructions of the teacher, and I draw an elephant. Everyone paints with brushes, and I paint with my fingers ... "

“Dad looks at the sky and tells what the clouds look like…”

The children are frowningly silent: they think. Indeed, it seems strange somehow. Finally, one of the older girls timidly suggests, "Maybe she... can't see?"

This reading was dedicated to the Paralympics. The elders readily answered the question about what kind of competition they were, calling the participants “politically correct” people with disabilities. True, there were no people with unlimited possibilities among those present and their acquaintances. Then the guys gave a different definition: "Disabled people are those who do not have any organs or they do not exist."

Then we played for a long time, trying on blindness or visual impairment in different ways, even drawing elephants with their eyes closed. And I dreamed that these children would remember how much they can have in common even with that person who has a completely different view of things ...

Maria Klimova

Anna Anisimova

invisible elephant

I got to drive. I count to ten loudly and go to look for my mother. Here is a door, a corridor with rough wallpaper, a plump dressed-up hanger - but no mother. I open the door to the kitchen. I listen. The clock ticks, the refrigerator hums, and nothing else is heard. But just in case, I reach the table and rummage under it with my hand - it's empty. Then I need to go to the living room: there is nowhere else to hide in the kitchen. There is no one behind the door in the living room. Both under the sofa and under the table. I go to the window and hear my mother breathing. I pull the curtain and touch my mother with my hand - I found it. Found! How I love hide and seek! I know all the hiding places in our house - so what! After all, I can only play at home. And I love hide and seek! And now it's my mother's turn to look for me. Mom blindfolds her eyes with a scarf - she wants to be honest - and slowly begins to count. I pass a table, a sofa, a door, rough wallpaper in the corridor, a door to my mother's room. I go up to a large wardrobe and try to open the door quietly, quietly. I climb inside and freeze among my mother's skirts and dresses. There are a lot of them here - as if thickets. And they smell so delicious of my mother that I breathe, I breathe in this mother's forest, I breathe ... and I don't even hear how my mother finds me. Mom opens the doors of the chiffonier and is silent. What with her? I reach out my hands to her face: my mother's lips smile, but her eyebrows frown a little. She must be worried that I messed something up. I quickly straighten all the skirts and dresses and hug my mother with all my might. She strokes my head. She is not worried. Mom and I are going to the museum. In museums, we are allowed to touch any scarecrow, various stones and things. Others can't, but we can. In the first room, my mother puts her hand on my shoulder and asks: -I'm with a girl. Shall we see the exhibits? Someone frowningly sniffs in response: - Just be careful. And then there was already one ... an elephant in a china shop - he touched and touched and dropped all the spears. Mom promises the gloomy one that we will be very careful. And I really want to see an elephant - where is he? I have never touched him yet. Mom explains that an elephant can only be seen in a circus or a zoo. And "an elephant in a china shop" is what they call a clumsy person. Because the elephant is the largest animal. If he could go into the museum, he would probably destroy everything here. “Come on,” Mom says, and quickly leads me along. - Look! Mom takes my hand and runs it over something cold and very long. - These are elephant tusks. Two teeth that stick out next to the trunk - a long, long nose. Like this. Mom puts her hand to my nose and shows me an elephant's trunk. I touch my mother's hand-trunk to imagine... And how does an elephant walk with such a nose? It's inconvenient. - And the tusks are so valuable, - continues my mother, - that they hunt elephants because of them ... I run my fingers over the tusks and listen carefully. Teeth that are taller than me and mom! Nose - like mother's hands! Is he really that big, this elephant?!

Taika's mother's friend should come to visit us. I'm waiting on the balcony when Taika appears at our entrance. I recognize her by her scent. Mom scolds Taika for pouring a whole bottle of perfume on herself. And Taika laughs at this, that they won’t take her to work in a luxury ... a perfume shop. And I would like to work in a perfume shop - I like Taika's perfume so much! I like that I can recognize Taika from them. She probably has a whole closet with these perfumes - a bottle for every day. I'm waiting for the smell. Smells! Came! I feel that Taika is nearby and I start jumping for joy. Taika yells "hello" to me and asks how I'm doing. And I scream that I was in the museum and saw the tusks of an elephant. Taika again shouts that I myself am now jumping like an elephant and I would rather take pity on the balcony - there it is staggering. I'll have to ask Mom to tell Taika that elephants can't jump at all. By the way, it's even good. After all, if elephants could jump, a real elephant quake would happen on Earth! Taika comes to visit with her son. It's so small, if you touch it, smaller than me. But noisy! Runs and stomps - back and forth, back and forth. He takes my toys, but does not return them to their place. Scattered so much! Elephant in the china shop! I want to show Taika a new music box. Looking, looking for her everywhere - as if she had disappeared. Taika scolds her son, but laughs because he is so small! But my mother quickly looks out where the box is, and asks me not to be angry: later everything will fall into place. Mom and I clean the room after the guests. And the truth - now everything is as usual. As needed. Just like I'm used to. Mom brings a vacuum cleaner into the room and asks me to clean the carpet. It's not hard for me - I do it often. I pull the cord out of the vacuum cleaner and plug it into the outlet. The vacuum cleaner starts to hum: uu-uu-uu! I hold the brush and run it over the carpet. Woo-woo-woo! Dust and any small debris enter the vacuum cleaner through the brush through the hose. It's like he's eating. Like an elephant with a trunk. Woo-woo-woo! I'm surprised: - That's how! The vacuum cleaner is also an elephant! Only without ears. Before going to bed, my mother sings for me. I'm afraid to be alone at night. Not with songs. I love songs. And I managed to fall in love with the elephant a little. Maybe he, too, is afraid to fall asleep alone? I drink with my mom. If an elephant is so big and it has big tusks and a nose, it means that it has big ears, which means that even from afar, it will hear my songs. Don't be afraid, Sloan! Autumn soon. My mother and I go to the store to buy clothes and shoes for me. I try on the coat - I touch the big round buttons. They are smooth and pleasant. I put my hands in my pockets, they are deep. You can hide a lot of chestnuts and quietly touch them with your fingers. Mom says that you need to choose the color of the coat - there are red and green. - What red? I ask. “Like a tomato,” Mom says. - And what green? - Like an apple. Apple green Of course, I choose the apple coat! Because apples crunch loudly, and tomatoes squish and drip. - Does an elephant eat apples? - I ask my mother further.- And how. He's also a herbivore. Eat anything that grows. Grass, apples, carrots... I remember the smells of grass, apples and carrots. Carrots are best for an elephant. Mom said elephants were grey. Probably gray is like carrot. Carrot elephant - it even sounds beautiful. Mom lets me try on shoes. And I keep thinking about the elephant and put the right shoe on my left foot, and the left shoe on my right. It's miserable! Confused again! My hands will never learn to distinguish the right shoe from the left. Interestingly, does an elephant confuse its tusks - right and left? In art school, I decide to draw an elephant. I sit separately from the other guys. Like I'm an elephant and I need a lot of space. Everyone draws a still life on the instructions of the teacher, and I draw an elephant. Everyone paints with brushes, but I paint with my fingers. I put a dot with the index finger of my left hand. And from the point she drew a circle with the finger of her right hand - so that the fingers connected. I made a big circle - after all, the elephant is big and fat, because it eats a lot. Now big teeth. Big ears. Long trunk... The teacher praises my drawing. Everyone surrounds me. That's why there are so many places around - so that others can stand nearby. Pashka, who often indulges, says: - And I can do it too! Can I draw with my fingers too? The rest also begin to ask: - And I - can I? - I want fingers too! Everyone wants to be like me. Everyone wants an elephant. Children run and play in the park. Their mothers and grandmothers are nearby rustling books or chatting. And my mother and I lie on the grass. We spread the blanket and lie down. Mom looks at the sky and tells what the clouds look like. - Like a hare or something ... Yes, just like a hare - look how long his ears are. I can see clouds very well. Mom explained to me that the clouds are like fluffy cotton wool. I hold the cotton and pull out two strips from it. I know what a rabbit looks like. Like a rabbit! And I saw a rabbit in the village with my grandmother. He has ears like shreds. - Such? - I take my mother by the hand and show her my hare. - Exactly, - my mother is proud of me. I'm so satisfied! You can’t touch a cloudy hare in any way, but mine is easy. I put the hare on my mother's stomach and laugh. To my laughter, out of nowhere, the wind appears and the cotton hare flies away. - Like this, - mom clasps her hands and rises, - the wind chased two hares at once. And drove them both away. I get up too. What do the clouds look like now? Mom is silent at first, and then how she screams! - Can not be! Can not be! Mom screams louder than the kids in the park. I'm so worried that I might fly away for a cotton bunny. - To whom? On whom? Well? Mom holds her breath and exhales: - On your elephant, can you imagine! That's who! Mom collapses back onto the blanket and laughs. I laugh too. I am happy! The wind will definitely not drive the elephant out of the sky. The elephant is big. If he wants, how he will blow into his trunk! And he will drive away this wind. I have a holiday! Mom said we were going to the zoo and I would see a real elephant. I'm so glad I push my mother's hand away and jump forward. - Carefully! - Mom can't keep up with me. - The boys play football there! I don't listen to her. I made a trunk out of fists. I jump and trumpet like I'm an elephant myself. Boo Boo! Boo Boo Boo! Zo-o-pa-ry-ky! And the whole world trumpets with me! Cars - boo-boo-boo! Birds too - boo-boo-boo! BOOM-M-M! And my head. I squat and grab my eye. It was the ball that flew into me - I hear how it rolled into the grass. - Can't you see what we're playing? - chokes some boy and runs away. Mom is already there. - Strongly? She turns me towards her. Her fingers on my shoulders tremble. - Whoa! I grit my teeth and shake my head violently from side to side - I know that means no. Then I grab my mother with my hand and whisper: - Elephants don't cry. At the zoo, we go straight to the elephant. I am in such a hurry that I do not pay attention to the road, to various holes and stones. But mom is on the alert: - To the right is a hole ... To the left is a puddle ... Now there is a step down ... More ... Careful! One bruise is enough for us! But I'm rushing, I'm ready to lead my mother to the elephant myself! And here we are at the aviary . Mom finds an empty seat and lets me grab the bars.“The elephant is far away,” he says. - Right behind the aviary there is a moat with water. And behind it is a platform. Here is the elephant standing on it. You won't get it, you won't touch it. But it looks like it's big. Higher than you and me combined. He picks up grass from the ground with his trunk and puts it in his mouth. And his ears are like our curtains. They are just as big and wide - I could easily hide behind them ... What else can I say? Mom gets a carrot.- Will you serve food? She lifts me off the ground, I swing and throw a carrot treat to the carrot elephant. I hear a splash. Mom cheerfully says: - Flew! So he'll eat soon. You'll see! But I hear the elephant shuffling away. - Probably went to rest. Everything is on its feet, on its feet, poor fellow, - mom justifies herself. We stand a little longer, and then we also leave. I turn around to say goodbye and it seems to me that the elephant is looking at me. I can feel him breathing towards me. At night I dream that the elephants are lying on the grass and looking at the sky. And I'm floating in the sky. Elephants ask their mothers: - Who does this cloud look like? But they are silent. Either they do not know, or they are embarrassed to say. Then I scream: - On you! I'm like you! I'm an elephant too! If you jump up, you can hug me with your trunk! Like a hand! But the elephants don't even move. Elephants are so heavy that they cannot jump.