Growing up, I was fortunate to be surrounded by books. I can still remember the incredible feeling of losing myself in a book, traveling to a new place, another time, and inviting wonderful characters into my head.
The Saggy Baggy Elephant is another Little Golden Book (Random House 1947) which was reissued in 1974. I bought this copy for my daughters. They were never book crazy like me — I know, shocking — so this book is still in excellent condition.
It’s about a little elephant named Sookie who lives alone in the jungle, not sure where he belongs. The other animals make fun of his saggy skin and wrinkles. He’s about to be eaten by a hungry lion when he’s saved by a herd of his long-lost relatives. Yes, a happy ending!
I love your blog about childhood books! I don’t have clear memories of which books I loved in early childhood but this one seems familiar. My love of mysteries began with Nancy Drew, like you, and remember hoping there would be a few dollars for a new one on ‘grocery day’! Sadly, I did not pass my love of books to my daughters either.
Hey Joanne, thanks for stopping by! I guess book love must skip generations or something, because Callum likes books
This is funny, because this became one of my kids’ favorite books. I don’t remember ever reading it myself though. I loved it when he found his family! A happy ending indeed.
I remember loving the title – saggy baggy – and the fact that it rhymed, LOL!