Upon the back of an elephant
we’ll ride all through this town.
And ’til we find what we have lost
we won’t be climbing down.
We’ll perch upon its wide grey back
and scour the ground below,
but we’ll be safe enough, you see,
just swinging to and fro.
The elephant will hunt with us,
it knows where we should look.
It’s wise old eyes will help us find
our missing library book.
Our elephant librarian
has shocked more than a few
but if we lose another book
we’ll end up in the p–!
—
This poem was written as part of an event for Manchester Children’s Book Festival. Children were invited to respond to a photo of the famous Manchester Elephant by writing down a word or two on post-it notes. I’ve used some of those ideas to help shape the poem.