Jane Kerr

READING LEVEL: 4.7 AR POINTS: 11.0
(Age 8-12, grade 3-7)

A cute little story based on a real elephant. Maharajah, an Asian elephant who had once been part of a famous traveling circus, Wombwell's Royal Number One Menagerie, back in 1872. He was sold off in Edinburgh, Scotland, to become a resident of the Belle Vue Zoological Gardens in Manchester, England. But, after boarding the train to bring him to his new home, Maharajah destroyed his carriage. His new keeper decided to walk the elephant from Edinburgh to Manchester, 218 miles, which took 10 days...a 4-hour car drive today. Maharajah lived 10 years at Belle Vue and died in 1882 from pneumonia. His skeleton was put on display at Belle Vue until its closure. It is now, to this day, on display at the Manchester Museum.

https://manchesterhistory.net/bellevue/lorenzo.html

The author used the above events, along with real people to create this sweet little novel for young readers, adding all the excitement of the 10 day journey from Edinburgh to Manchester that was actually missing on Maharajah's real life journey.

"Boy" was a homeless, mute orphan living on the streets and thieving his way through life in Edinburgh. When caught thieving at the auction where they were auctioning off the zoo animals, including the elephant, Maharajah, the Magnificent, he was given the name, Danny, and thrown into the job of riding Maharah the 218 miles down to Manchester. He developed friendships and family bonds for the first time in his life. He connected with Maharajah, and Maharajah connected with Danny because of his gentle nature. He learnt what it felt like to truly love something so much that he was willing to give his own life to save it. Just an all around feel-good and nourishing read for younger readers, although I feel 3rd grade might be a tad too young for this novel...but I could be wrong.… (altro)