All the elephants of the jungle were gray except Elmer, who was a patchwork of brilliant colors until the day he got tired of being different and making the other elephants laugh.

Book 1: Embark on a philosophical journey with “Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche.” Nietzsche's magnum opus challenges conventional thinking, presenting the teachings of the prophet Zarathustra. Explore existential themes and the eternal recurrence, as Nietzsche weaves a narrative that transcends time and ignites profound introspection. Book 2: Immerse yourself in the charismatic world of “Elmer Gantry by Sinclair Lewis.” Lewis takes you on a riveting exploration of the charismatic and morally ambiguous Elmer Gantry, a captivating preacher whose life is a rollercoaster of faith, sin, and redemption. This classic satirical novel invites readers to reflect on the intersection of religion and human nature. Book 3: Experience the timeless beauty of “The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.” Rawlings transports you to the enchanting landscapes of rural Florida, where young Jody Baxter forges a bond with a wild fawn. This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel captures the essence of coming-of-age, nature's wonders, and the bittersweet realities of life in the wild. Book 4: Immerse yourself in the evocative tales of “Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings by Marjorie Kinnan.” Rawlings, renowned for her literary craftsmanship, invites readers into a world where characters come alive through vivid storytelling. Her work weaves a tapestry of emotions, relationships, and the beauty found in the intricacies of the human experience.

Count from 1 to 10 with Elmer, everyone's favorite patchwork elephant, in this amusing board book!

LIFE Magazine is the treasured photographic magazine that chronicled the 20th Century. It now lives on at LIFE.com, the largest, most amazing collection of professional photography on the internet. Users can browse, search and view photos of today’s people and events. They have free access to share, print and post images for personal use.

Elmer, the patchwork elephant, has been a favorite of children around the world since the first book debuted in 1989. Elmer's Special Day is the latest book in this classic series. It's almost Elmer Day again for the elephants, and they are getting their colorful parade outfits ready. But in their excitement they are making an awful lot of noise and upsetting the other animals. So Elmer changes the rules and invites every single animal to join in the parade. And they have a surprise in store for Elmer . . .

When Elmer Kelton died in the fall of 2009, the literary world lost a consummate writer, a man the New York Times called a “novelist who brought the sensibility of the old-style western to bear on a modern Texas landscape of oil fields and financially troubled ranches.” Kelton was also a modest, kind man, always willing to advise a struggling writer or write a blurb for a first time published author, or assign publishing rights to his six masterpieces to a small university press. TCU Press owes a great debt of gratitude to Kelton, and this volume, Elmer Kelton: Memories and Essays, attempts to explore just what it is that made Kelton its leading author. Editors Judy Alter and James Ward Lee gathered together a group of Kelton aficionados who had either published or taught or sold his books, or were simply friends. In several meetings, they divided up the main themes of Kelton’s writing: Alter provides the overview of Kelton’s career; Felton Cochran, longtime owner of Cactus Books in San Angelo, describes how the friendship between bookstore owner and author grew over the years; Ricky Burk, pastor of the church from which Kelton was buried, talks about the man’s influence in his community; Kelton’s son, Steve, explains how Kelton’s career as journalist permeated his novels; Ruth McAdams, who has taught Kelton for years, explores how he deals with the themes of endurance and change; Joyce Roach delicately covers how race and ethnicity figure in Kelton’s plots and the development of his unforgettable characters; Lee gives readers his inimitable take on the Hewey Calloway Trilogy—The Good Old Boys, The Smiling Country, and Six Bits a Day; and Bob J. Frye takes a wry look at Kelton’s use of humor throughout his career. The book also contains Kelton’s own view of the history of the Western novel, a response to revisionist criticism. And finally Cochran provides us a list of most, not all, of Elmer Kelton’s extraordinary body of work.

In a career that spanned five decades, Elmer Iseler proved himself pivotal to the development of choral music in Canada. After founding Canada’s first professional choir in 1954, he became artistic director and conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. In 1979 he established Canada’s leading chamber choir, the Elmer Iseler Singers. He also enjoyed a long association with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, conducting more than 150 performances of Handel’s Messiah and premiering complex twentieth-century music. Under his baton, choirs achieved international stature for technical brilliance and artistic versatility. He has, in the estimation of many, created a vibrant, world-class choral infrastructure in Canada. The most decorated musician in Canada, honoured with many awards nationally and internationally, Iseler has made an impact that will continue undiminished through his many recordings, the Elmer Iseler Singers, the Elmer Iseler Chair in Conducting, and the Elmer Iseler National Graduate Fellowships in Choral Conducting at the University of Toronto.