The story in “Elephants Are Not Birds” reminds me of a cartoon I saw (1940s, 1950s?) of a little mouse who wished he were a bird and could fly. So a fairy bestows on him real wings that do make him fly, only, they are bat’s wings, not bird’s wings. No one loves him with his bat wings, he cries and tries to tear them off, but can’t. The good fairy takes pity on him and restores him to his original wing-less condition, and he, having learned his lesson, rejoices in how he was originally made.
Let me see if I can locate that link.
Not that different from Hans Christian Andersen’s story “The Little Mermaid” who died from sorrow and homesickness after being rejected by humans and no longer a mermaid. Disney spoiled that cautionary tale.
That sounds familiar! I actually think I had that book when I was real young, and my parents read it to me.
Bravo for this book!