Elephants Aloft [Paperback]

Kathi Appelt (Author), Keith Baker (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

Readers will be swept along with Rama and Raja, two Indian elephants as they travel between mountains, behind waterfalls, and across the seas in Kathi Appelt’s simple, clever story. Bold illustrations and a tale told in prepositions add up to a great balloon adventure sure to delight young children.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-This romp affords young readers not only a painless lesson in prepositions, but also views of the Taj Mahal and the flora and fauna of the jungles of India and Africa. Rama and Raja, two young Asian elephants, answer the summons of their lonesome Aunt Rwanda in Africa by climbing "in" a hot-air balloon, traveling "through" the clouds, "across" an ocean, "around" mountains, etc., until they get "out" at their destination and walk straight "into" her arms. Only one word of text appears on most pages. Baker's large, whimsical illustrations, done in acrylics, depict the resourceful pachyderms washing their clothing and themselves "under" rain clouds and flying "beyond" the rainbow. Pair this gem for story hours and classroom use with another journey through prepositions, Dayle Ann Dodds's Wheel Away! (HarperCollins, 1989).
Marianne Saccardi, Whitby School American Montessori Center, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Ages 6-8. This appealing concept book should find a welcome home in classrooms studying prepositions. The text is limited almost exclusively to the prepositions themselves, as the lush, textured acrylic illustrations follow the hot-air balloon journey of two young elephants. Invited to Africa to visit their aunt, Rama, Raja, and a prodigious load of luggage pile "in" the balloon's basket, soar "above" and "beside" domes and minarets, "through" the clouds, "behind" a waterfall, "across" the ocean, until they reach their destination and run "into" the arms of Auntie Rwanda. Readers will easily supply the object to each printed preposition, and even pre-readers will often be able to identify the preposition from the broad visual clues. Although the journey is fanciful, Baker has distinguished Asian and African settings through architectural and environmental details and has differentiated Asian and African elephants by ear shape. A tendency for important figures to fall into the seam is occasionally distracting, but not a major problem in a book whose large size makes this useful for classroom presentations. Elizabeth Bush --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Paperback: 36 pages
• Publisher: Sandpiper (August 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0152015566
• ISBN-13: 978-0152015565
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 8.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #831,821 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Elephants Aloft" and the joy of prepositions for kids, June 15, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Elephants Aloft (Paperback)

A preposition is a "function" word that typically combines with a noun phrase to form a phrase which usually expresses a modification or predication. However, in "Elephants Aloft" prepositions like "above," "between," and "below" are not combined with noun phrases but rather with delightful illustrations of elephants in a balloon. Now, if a picture of a pair of elephants in a balloon is worth a thousand words, then there would be reason to believe that in those thousands words there would be at least one noun phrase.

Written by Kathi Appelt and illustrated by Keith Baker with pictures done in Liquitex acrylics on illustration board, "Elephants Aloft" begins before the title page with Auntie Rwanda in Africa sending a letter to her nephew and niece Rama and Raja in Asia. If young readers do not know the different between an African Elephant and an Asian Elephant, then this is an opportunity for them to find out if they pay attention to the differences in the ears of the two traveling elephants and their aunt. Each picture of the journey has a single word, written large, and lots of details (the colorful bird that delivered the letter to Rama and Raja appears in each picture and young readers should enjoy looking for him).

This book is ideal for beginning readers since it emphasizes a single word on each page and kids should be able to make the association between words like "beside" or "around" and the pictures of the elephants in their balloon going by the Taj Mahal or coming around a snow capped mountain. Granted, little kids are not going to understand exactly what a prepositions is (I had to look it up), but they will still pick up the idea that all of the words appearing in "Elephants Aloft" are similar in terms of how they function.

Note: The back flap of "Elephants Aloft" says this was Kathi Appelt's first book. You should check out some of the other ones, not just the picture books intended for kids, but some of her poetry books intended for older kids and (dare I say it) adults as well, such as "Poems From Homeroom" and "My Father's Summers."

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One More *5 Star Vote* for "Elephants Aloft", June 17, 2005

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Elephants Aloft (Paperback)

We just wanted to add our voices in support of this excellent children's book. My son and daughter (3 and 5) really enjoy this beautiful and heartwarming story, and we highly recommend it.

Great for entertaining, and for teaching toddlers and preschoolers positional prepositions! Well worth the price.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite book., January 29, 2003

By 

R. Rahn (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Elephants Aloft (Paperback)

This is probably one of my top 3 favorite childrens books ever. I could sit and look at the illustrations for hours. It has a fun story using very few words. I have purchased many copies as baby presents and gifts and they are always greeted with delight.