Elephant Dance : A Journey to India - Hardcover

Rebecca Hazell is the author of The Barefoot Book of Heroines (Barefoot Books, 1996) and The Barefoot Book of Heroes (Barefoot Books, 1997). Working as a designer and writer she has written and illustrated filmstrips, designed craft kits for children, and is also an award-winning needlepoint designer. Rebecca lives in Nova Scotia, Canada and works extensively with local school children. Helen Cann is a graduate from the School of Art, Wales. She is a full-time illustrator and her rich artwork has been exhibited in several European counties and the United States. Her watercolour, collage and graphite images adorn many Barefoot Books, among them: The Barefoot Book of Mother and Daughter Tales (1996), The Barefoot Book of Father and Daughter Tales (1997), The Barefoot Book of Mother and Son Tales (1998) and The Barefoot Book of Father and Son Tales (1998).

Kindergarten-Grade 3–When Grandfather arrives from India, Ravi asks him about life there. The man describes a sun that is like "a ferocious tiger" in the sky; snow-covered mountains that look like "giant ice cream"; and elephants that wear "silk howdahs, blue as the royal peacock," during the feast of Divaali. At the end of the day, Ravi creates an elephant dance on his flute and falls asleep to dream about an elephant doing "a silent dance." Done in acrylic paint, the folk-style illustrations capture the bright colors of India, as Ravi sees them in his mind's eye. The scenes alternate between Grandfather's depictions of his homeland and the boy's life in an unidentified country, where his family continues to embrace their traditions. Endnotes provide details about culture, animals, and food. The book is engaging as a read-aloud about an intergenerational relationship or as an introduction to the country. The sheet music for Ravi's song is also included. The narrative's question-and-answer format occasionally leads to choppy transitions, but the book's splashy illustrations and poetic language outweigh this flaw.–Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR
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