Ravi and Anjali are fascinated by their grandfather's stories of India, where the sun is like a ferocious tiger, the wind is like a wild horse, and monsoon rains cascade from the sky like waterfalls. Ravi particularly loves to hear about the festival of Divaali, where parading elephants take pride of place in their grandfather's memories, and he dreams of having an elephant dance to the tune he composes on his flute.
In addition to an evocative, beautifully written story, Elephant Dance also contains endnotes on the cultural heritage of India, making it a perfect introduction to Indian life and traditions.
--From Goodreads
What caught my eye:
The cover caught my eye at first, especially with "A Journey to India" tagline.
My Review:
Elephant Dance is a superb and simple look into India's customs and landscapes for children! Ravi, a young boy living in America, learns about this far away land from his visiting grandfather. I loved how grandfather described everything in India. His descriptions provide the perfect opportunity to teach children about similies!
The end of the book has pages with more information about India, about the animals in the book, and about the spices and foods that are mentioned. I was enamored with the fact that there was so much information about India packed into a children's book! Although the writing itself is simple enough for young children, this is definitely a book that you could use with older children as well.
My class simply adored the pictures. Each page is so bright and detailed, it's extremely difficult not to be interested in the story. I was able to read the entire 40 pages without a single second grade child fidgeting. That in itself is an amazing recommendation!
Recommended for:
Mainly children in grades 1 through 3, however I fully believe this book could be used for older ages as well.
From the class:
Kaitlyn (Age 8): "I loved how we learned about India. I didn't know there were elephants!"
Book Details
Title: Elephant Dance: A Journey to India
Author: Theresa Heine
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Pages: Hardcover; 40
