Tinga Tinga Tales: Why Elephant has a Trunk

There was a time when Elephant had no nose. He was big, clumsy and very, very smelly and always covered in flies because his nose was too small to wash himself with. He was miserable. Crocodile wouldn’t let him near the waterhole for a bath and he couldn’t swat away the pesky flies or blow his nose.

One day when Elephant is sleeping next to the waterhole, Crocodile snaps his nose and the other animals come and try to pull him free. His nose stretches longer and longer until Crocodile finally lets go and Elephant ends up with a fine long and wiggly nose! Elephant is very happy now he can swat those pesky flies away, blow his nose and wash himself using his new trunk.

This enteraining story about how elephant got his trunk is part of the popular Tinga Tinga Tales series, inspired by traditional animals stories from Africa. The brightly coloured, vibrant illustrations are inspired by the Tingatinga artwork of Tanzania.