Elephant Dance
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, ORCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.