11/07/2020
The first 8 pages of "The Elephant in the Room" -A children's picture book:
Page one:
Under Text: Rachel did not have a monster in her closet.
Picture: Rachel's room. Rachel is in bed to the right. To the left is THE CLOSET. The door is slightly open and maybe there is a shadow of what might look like a te****le. Rachel looks scared and is clutching her blanket up to her chin. Word balloon. “Mom!”
Also in room is a toy box/chest at foot of bed. A stick floor lamp, and a window with floor length curtains.
Page two:
Under text: But her closet was not empty.
Picture: Pulled in closer on the closet and the closet door. It definitely looks like a te****le shadow now. Rachel’s mom has arrived in the room.
Page Three:
Under text: There were clothes and stuffed animals.
There were boxes and board games
Picture: A view of inside the closet. There are clothes on hangers. Some of them have fallen off and the hangers are bare. There are stuffed animals piled on top of eachother. Boxes on the floor of the closet and board games up on the top shelf. This closet is cluttered and messy. There’s absolutely no way there could ever be an elephant in this closet…
And yet…
Page Four:
Under text: And there was an elephant named Ellie.
Picture: Ellie’s trunk is revealed to be the ‘te****le’. We see Ellie’s trunk, maybe a bit of tusk. Maybe her foot crushing some poor helpless stuffed animals.
Page 5
Undertext: Ellie was big and blue and very good at hiding.
Picture: We see Ellie in all of her blue glory. She is squashed against the wall of the closet. She absolutely should not fit into this closet and yet clearly does. She is comically not hiding behind some of the hanging clothes. Like there’s no way you would not see the elephant if you looked in the closet.
We see Rachel’s mum, looking into the closet. She does not see Ellie. Word balloon: “There’s no monster in your closet, love.”
Page 6:
Text: Sometimes she hid under Rachel’s bed.
Picture: Rachel’s bed is balanced precariously on the back of Ellie up toward the ceiling. Ellie has her feet over her eyes in a “I can’t see you, you can’t see me” pose. The blankets drape down partially covering Ellie but they do not reach the floor. Aurora’s mom is on her hands and knees looking under the bed. She does not see Ellie. Word balloon. “There’s no monster under your bed, love."
