"8 Ways to Draw an Elephant is primarily an activity book -- it features the elephant rendered in 8 different Indian art styles. Some styles are bold and graphic, others rely on delicate and intricate lines. Some use patterns, others work with decorative motifs. However, each of these styles captures what is characteristic of this magnificent beast -- for some, it is the ears, others, the trunk, for yet others its size. While each elephant looks different, it is evident that they are all elephants! The book is thus an early introduction to a very important idea in the arts -- the idea of representation. Through a series of activities -- colouring, patterning, tracing, decorating and creating their own elephant -- children come to understand the role of the imagination in representing the real. They realise that art is as much about their version of what they see and how they represent that, as it is about what they actually see. For the art educator, each of the 8 styles offers a unique context to think about the relationship between a particular art activity and the learning it fosters and enables."--Publisher's description.