Dumbo, the Flying Elephant

"Spring seems to be the season for circus babies. Anyway, this particular Spring was. There was a new baby lion, a new baby zebra, a baby bear, a baby hippopotamus, a baby camel, a baby giraffe and a new baby elephant. Everyone made a great fuss over the baby elephant because he was the cutest of all. His Mother Ella was very proud of him. She caressed him with her trunk while she listened to the other elephants praise him."

The Disney feature film Dumbo originated with a story by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl... and it appeared as a Roll-A-Book. A Roll-A-Book was a distinctive format -- It featured about a dozen illustrations which appeared on a short scroll that was built into a box and the reader would twist a small wheel at the top of the box to get to the next panel illustration. Apparently no known copies of this original Roll-A-Book survive today... Shortly after the Roll-A-Book version, the story and illustrations were reprinted in a regular book edition of no more than one thousand copies.

(Information adapted from Jim Hill Media.)