  | Balarama : a royal elephant Author: Lewin, Ted | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
World travelers Ted and Betsy Lewin recount how the trained elephants of southern India, in particular the one chosen to be the lead elephant in the Mysore Dasara, are raised, cared for, and prepared for performing in ceremonial processions.
| Added Entry - Personal Name: | Lewin, Betsy |
Download a Teacher's Guide| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: LG Reading Level: 5.40 Points: 1.0 Quiz: 134812 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 3-5 Reading Level: 7.30 Points: 3.0 Quiz: 47463 | |
Common Core Standards
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Science
Grade 6 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Science
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Craft & Structure
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → K.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade K → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 1 → Reading → RL Reading Literature → 1.RL Craft & Structure
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Craft & Structure
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 1 → Reading → CCR - College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards
Grade 1 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 1.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 2 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 2.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 2 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 2.RI Craft & Structure
Grade 2 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 2.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 2 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 2.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 2 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 2 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Grade 3 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 3.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 3 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 3.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 3 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating Complexity, Quality, & Range of
Grade 4 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 4.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 4 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 4.RI Craft & Structure
Grade 4 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 4.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 4 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 4.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 4 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 4 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 5.RI Key Ideas & Details
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 5.RI Craft & Structure
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 5.RI Integration of Knowledge & Ideas
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → 5.RI Range of Reading & Level of Text Complexity
Grade 5 → Reading → RI Informational Text → Texts Illustrating the Complexity, Quality, & Rang
Grade 5 → Reading → CCR College & Career Readiness Anchor Standards fo
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (08/15/09)
School Library Journal (09/01/09)
Booklist (11/15/09)
The Hornbook (01/10)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 09/01/2009 Gr 3–6— The Lewins continue their accounts of their worldwide adventures, here with two voyages to southern India. On their first trip, they visited a camp of trained elephants and their handlers in the forest and learned of the royal elephants used for festivals. They met Drona, who was to lead the annual Dasara procession in Mysore in the fall, and they were so enraptured that they decided to return for the festival. Upon their arrival, they learned that Drona had died, and that a new elephant had been chosen to lead the procession. Ted Lewin's brilliant, realistic watercolors capture the sun-drenched pageantry of Mysore as well as the dusty, filtered light of the forest, while Betsy Lewin's lively cartoons aptly depict the action and personalities involved. The story has pathos and tension, and the Lewins' narration takes readers into the forest, to the grounds of the maharaja's pale palace, along the parade route, and eye-to-eye with the majestic animals. Facts about elephants and brief biographies of some of the royal elephants are a welcome addition, and a glossary—with pronunciation help—is provided. If the art doesn't grab chidren, the elephants surely will. Wonderful.—Paula Willey, Baltimore County Public Library, Towson, MD - Copyright 2009 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 11/15/2009 With exciting text and lush, photo-realistic watercolors, the Lewins describe their close-up encounters with parade elephants in southern India in the late 1990s. After they meet a magnificent Royal Elephant, Drona, in the forest, they decide to return a year later to see the animal lead the city of Mysore’s parade. Unfortunately, Drona dies before the Lewins’ return, but they watch his successor, Balarama, lead the parade for the first time. Can he live up to his predecessor? The views of Balarama with his brightly painted head and shoulders are majestic, and so are the rest of the scenes of the big-city ceremony, featuring soldiers on horseback in front of the palace. Along with the glowing images of elephants in their shimmering silk drapes of purple and red, there are occasional, line-and-watercolor pictures of tourists in a nearby camp, watching a young, mischievous elephant chasing the local children. The combination of compelling travelogue and images is immediate and dramatic. Kids will also enjoy the extensive back matter, which includes elephant facts and a glossary. - Copyright 2009 Booklist.
