Once upon a time there lived a boy named Christopher. He loved elephants very much and was especially keen on going to the zoo with his mummy and daddy to see his favourite animals. At the zoo he met a kind elephant named Ellie who was waving with her trunk when she saw Christopher. She loved eating the carrots he offered her. As it was playday at the zoo, Christopher was allowed to pet Ellie and play with her.

They played and giggled until Christopher noticed tears in Ellie's eyes. Ellie whispered to Christopher, 'I can talk to special humans like you, and I can even change my size! I would love to see what is outside this zoo, can you help me?' Astonished, Christopher promised to help Ellie escape from the zoo.

Just before the zoo closes for visitors, Ellie shrunk to the size of a toy elephant. Christopher kept her safe in his backpack and sneaked her out of the zoo with a joyful leap. They giggled and whispered like two peas in a pod. Christopher and Ellie dashed back to his house and giggled as Ellie transformed back to her normal size. She then shrank again to fit into Christophers playhouse in the garden, where they'd play and share secrets for days.

They laughed and played, and Ellie taught Christopher to speak elephant language, so they could understand each other even better. From that day on, they were the best of friends and would have a lot of adventures to come…