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, CTCopyright 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.
