i like lewin's cultural focus. i would have loved this as a child. also i was fascinated by elephants. ( )

This is a true retelling of Ted and Betsy Lewin's trip to India to observe the holiday Dasara. For the festival a royal elephant is chosen to carry this magnificent statue. The Lewins tell of how they went to observe the holiday but found one of the elephants had been electrocuted so they had to find another elephant, named Balarama. The amount of Indian culture in the book is great, with a lot of original vocabulary. I think this would be a great read for a cultural study or holiday study.

It's award the 2011-2012 Texas Bluebonnet award for children's literature. A nice, cultural read. ( )

Every year a special elephant is chosen to lead the parade in a big celebration in India. Balarama is the latest elephant to be so honored.Both Ted and Betsy Lewin are children’s picture book illustrators. In this book, both draw parts of the story. They have very different styles, with Ted painting big beautiful and realistic illustrations, and Betsy doing cartoon-like drawings. A little:“Balarama moves majestically toward one of the palace gates, leading a mile-long procession. Band after band and unit after unit of guards and soldiers march smartly past the stage, following Balarama onto the packed streets of Mysore. Throngs of people push forward to see Balarama in his first ceremonial parade.We are bursting with pride. He is doing great.” ( )