Elephant and Sparrow

Watercolor painting of a jungle scene. A sad mama sparrow, depicted in muted browns and grays, sits near a broken nest with cracked eggs.  A large, grumpy elephant, rendered in deep gray and brown, is partially submerged in a muddy hole. A bright red woodpecker, a buzzing blue fly, and a green frog with large, wise eyes are gathered near the sparrow, looking at her with concern. The overall mood is one of sadness turning to hope. The background is a lush watercolor wash of greens and browns, suggesting a jungle environment.  The scale of the characters is consistent, with the elephant significantly larger than the other animals, which are similar in size to each other.

Two little sparrows lived in a cozy nest high up in a big jungle tree. Mama sparrow was waiting for her babies to hatch from her eggs.

One hot day, a grumpy elephant got very, very angry! He stomped through the jungle, crashing into trees. Crash! Bam! The elephant broke the branch holding the sparrows’ nest!

The nest fell, and sadly, all the eggs broke. The mama sparrow was so sad and cried. She missed her babies so much.

A woodpecker saw the mama sparrow crying. He said, “Don’t cry, little sparrow. Let’s try to help!”

The mama sparrow said, “The elephant broke my eggs! Can you help me?”

The woodpecker said, “I have a friend, a fly! Let’s ask her for help.”

The woodpecker and the sparrow flew to see the fly. The fly said, “Of course I’ll help! I have a friend, a frog. Let’s get him!”

They all went to see the wise old frog. The frog listened to their story and smiled. “I have a plan!” he said.

The frog said, “Fly, you buzz in the elephant’s ears when it’s sunny. Woodpecker, when the elephant closes his eyes, peck his eyes! Then, the elephant will be blind.”

“I’ll hide by a muddy hole,” said the frog. “When the blind elephant hears my croaking, he’ll think it’s water and fall in!”

They all followed the plan. The fly buzzed, the woodpecker pecked, and the frog croaked. The elephant fell into the muddy hole!

Even though they were small, the fly, woodpecker, and frog helped the sparrow. They showed that even small friends can be super strong when they work together!