When hippopotamuses come to live at the elephants' river, Elmer finds out why they have come and enlists his friends to help them make things better.

Elmer, the patchwork elephant, has been a favorite of children around the world since the first book debuted in 1989. In Elmer and the Hippos, the elephants are not happy. The hippos' river has dried up, and they have moved into the elephants' river. Some of the elephants don't like sharing. Elmer decides to investigate. He discovers the hippos' dry river could be fixed—but only if the hippos and the elephants drop their prejudices and work together.

Elmer, the patchwork elephant, and his friends play in the snow.

One day, as Elmer is strolling through the jungle, he hears a cry for help. A butterfly has been trapped in a hole by a fallen branch. Elmer rushes to the rescue and frees her with ease. In return, she promises to help Elmer should he ever need it. But just how can a butterfly ever help an elephant?

It's a blustery day in the jungel and Elmer and his cousin Wilbur are up to their old tricks again! The thing is, they don't realise just how strong the wind is blowing - strong enough to carry a patchwork elephant up above the tress and off on a great adventure!

The young elephants want to have a race to prove who is fastest, so Elmer and Wilbur organize a course. With each racer decorated a different color, they set off around the course and discover things about themselvesBlue is first, Orange is second, White is kind, Pink and Violet are funny, and Yellow is a cheat. Luckily Yellow also learns he is very good at saying sorry, so each young elephant gets a medal from Elmer.

Elmer the elephant enlists his animal friends to help him find the end of a strange, colorless rainbow so that he can share some of his patchwork colors and make it right.

There is pandemonium in the jungle! A strange roar sends all the animals stampeding. Only Elmer is brave enough to investigate and discover that monsters aren't always as scary as they seem.

The hunters are coming and all the elephants are worried. Elmer, the patchwork elephant, comes up with a plan to outwit the hunters but things don't turn out quite as planned...

Elmer, the patchwork elephant, plays an amusing trick on his grey elephant friends.