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When Flugge published the story, McKee shortened the book to 32 pages (from 42) and was “slightly stricter” about matching the colours of the squares from page to page. But the story remained largely the same. It was an “instant” success, and grew and grew over the years: Andersen Press has since turned Elmer into one of the most recognisable children’s brands. As well as being the star of the books—which have been translated into languages including Curaçao Papiamento, Luxembourgish and Azerbaijani—Elmer now features on toys, clothes, crockery and—one of McKee’s personal favourites—a children’s money-box.
One of the reasons Elmer has remained so popular is its gentle message of inclusion and acceptance, and McKee is pleased that readers see a moral message between the pages, whether that be anti-racism or pro-LGBT+ rights. “When the story came to me it was complete, and I only saw the moral side later, perhaps when I was developing it,” he says. “My stories tend to have a moral feeling even if there isn’t a moral. I liked fables and parables when I was young. I liked the fact that aſterwards you find a different meaning in the same story.”
Lessons learned McKee was born and grew up in Devon and went to art school to “avoid geting a job”. “I was supposed to go and work with my father, who did work with farmers, but he had two weeks’ holiday a year. I thought I would become a teacher and teach art, because I was top at art, but when I went to art college I realised I didn’t want to be one.” He created cartoons for newspapers and magazines, but the move into kids’ books came aſter he picked up a copy of André François’s 1955 picture book Crocodile Tears and thought, “I can do one of those”. He adds, “I did it the wrong way round. I never went to see a publisher, I just did the book and sent it in,” although his strategy worked: Two Can Toucan was published by Abelard-Schuman in 1964. The early 1960s was also when he met Flugge, now his best friend, who over the years has published most of McKee’s biggest hits. “Klaus was the master of selling rights abroad, that’s what he really brought [to the indus- try] at the time. When I started I was lucky, because at the time parents hadn’t seen many picture books apart from those by maybe John Burningham and Michael Foreman. I don’t think I would make it now.” The illustrator has created around 50 books for
McKee's Top Five Elmer tops as Bernard and Benn figure
Data: Nielsen BookScan
1 Elmer 213,935 copies sold
First published by Dobson Books in 1968 and reis- sued by Andersen in 1989, Elmer caught the hearts’ of readers with its warm message of inclusion and bright, colourful drawings.
2 Not Now, Bernard 141,002 copies sold
McKee has made genera- tions of children laugh with this cautionary 1980 tale; it is about two parents who fail to notice when their son is eaten by a monster.
3 Elmer’s Parade 127,529 copies sold
This World Book Day £1 title, published in 2015, saw the eponymous elephant dress up for a parade. But will Elmer be able to find the missing elephants?
4 Two Monsters 41,627 copies sold
The monsters in this 1985 title are less threatening than Bernard’s nemesis. They get into a fight and destroy a mountain, but at least they learn to see each other’s point of view.
5 Mr Benn’s Little Book of Life
36,414 copies sold Mr Benn adventured into multiple worlds via a costume shop, as told by this picture book and a successful BBC TV adaptation.
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YOUNGSTERS MODEL THE RANGE OF ELMER CLOTHING AVAILABLE IN ITS SPRING/SUMMER 2018 BATCH
Andersen but says he doesn’t have favourites. He mentions Not Now, Bernard, about a boy whose parents don’t realise he has been eaten by a monster, and the “surreal” I Ate My Teddy Bear, but is mostly “just interested in what the next thing is going to be”.
He has also worked with a number of big-name authors and brands over the years, and says he has been “lucky” with his collaborators. “Michael Bond said he always liked my Paddingtons... but then he would have said that, he was such a nice man.” Looking to the future, he has just started work on a new Elmer, laughing that the patchwork elephant “won’t leave him alone”. He still paints Elmer in the same way, using gouache initially, then crayons, and then pencil to add definition. There will be a number of 30th anniversary celebrations this year too, including the release of the latest title Elmer’s Birthday, an Elmer Day for schools, bookshops and nurseries (on 25th May), and interactive art parades in Tyne and Wear, Suffolk and Plymouth. And McKee confirms that he has no plans to retire. “If you retire, you retire to do what you want to do. So what would I do? I would write, paint and draw.”
Years Elmer has been in print; anniversary editions will celebrate the elephant's three-decade run
In his capacity as Illus- trator of the Fair, David will be in conversation with Ren Renwick from the Association of Illus- trators at 1.15 p.m. in The Podcast Theatre
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