Elephant on the Moon is a richly illustrated tale of courage, passion and determination. Although it is directed mainly at younger readers, it refers to serious events. Sir Paul Neal in the seventeenth century - one of the astronomers of the Royal Society - is supposed to have been the first to observe an elephant on the moon. At the time, his discovery provoked much confusion and fired the imaginations of many writers. Thanks to Samuel Butler's satirical account, the story reached France. Fontaine himself wrote a tale about it - 'Un animal dans la lune'.