When Ivan, a gorilla who has lived for years in a down-and-out circus-themed mall, meets Ruby, a baby elephant that has been added to the mall, he decides that he must find her a better life.

"Now living in a wildlife sanctuary, Ruby’s caretaker from the elephant orphanage in Africa where she grew up is visiting. Seeing him again brings back a flood of memories both happy and sad of her life before the circus, and she recounts the time she spent in the African savannah to Ivan and Bob.

Piggie ruins a perfectly good day by telling Gerald the elephant that she is going, sending him into a panic.

When an elephant falls in love, he does many foolish things, and never tells her how he feels--until one day the doorbell rings.

Gerald the elephant tries to tell Piggie that ball-throwing is serious business, but Piggie just wants to have fun.

When Gerald the Elephant is sad, Piggie is determined cheer him up, but finds after many tries that it only takes the simplest thing to change Gerald's mood.

Elephant and Piggie learn to play catch with their new friend Snake.

Best friends Elephant and Piggie decide that they will try to surprise each other, with unexpected results.

Illustrations and easy-to-read text introduce such basic concepts as adjectives, adverbs, daytime, and nighttime as they follow five elephants marching from dawn to dusk.

Elephant wakes up in a grumpy mood, but a present on his doorstep--a hat--cheers him and he sets out to greet his neighbors who all, it seems, need hats of their own.