Sri Lanka
As part of our book party celebration for The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, we looked through these Sri Lanka books to learn more about the setting. With very few picture books set in Sri Lanka, we also leaned on snapshots of Sri Lanka found within atlases and other geography-themed books.
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Picture Books
When the Rain Comes
This book, When the Rain Comes, is about a little girl, Malini, who is caught in a flash flood during monsoon season. She then manages to save the ox, cart, and seedlings on behalf of her family.
One Country and One People
One Country and One People introduces the history of Sri Lanka, and how it was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Then it continues with all the interesting things that were absorbed into Sri Lankan culture from each colonizer. Finally, it ends with information about the civil war and a call to end the prejudice. The book was self-published in 1993 and the Sri Lankan Civil War lasted from 1983 to 2009. The author and illustrator are Sri Lankan.
Celebrations!: Children Just Like Me
This compilation of world celebrations highlights Sri Lanka’s Buddhist Festival of Esala Perahera. It takes place in August.
Atlas of Animal Adventures
Learn about Asian Elephants in one of the spreads in Atlas of Animal Adventures. “Gathering with the Elephants” gives many fun facts about the Asian elephant. They gather at Minneriya National Park in the summer in Sri Lanka.
The Travel Book
The Travel Book by Lonely Planet Kids, contains a short page about each country around the world. The interesting information, presented in short blurbs with photographs, engages my kids. I appreciate this resource especially for the countries that have few books specifically about them.
Chapter Books: Sri Lanka Books
Books by Nizrana Farook
The author, Nizrana Farook, was born and raised in Colombo, Sri Lanka. We enjoyed reading these Sri Lanka books written through her lens. She refers to the island as Serendib, an ancient name for Sri Lanka. The first in the trio, The Girl Who Stole an Elephant, brings you on an adventure through the jungles of Sri Lanka. I checked out the other two books and my 11-year olds promptly devoured them.
The second book is The Boy Who Met a Whale and the third is The Girl Who Lost A Leopard. These both contain identical maps of Sri Lanka that would have been useful to also have in the first book. There is character overlap between the three books although they are stand-alone stories.
Book in Free Verse
I Am Kavi, by Thushanthi Ponweera, is a powerful book written in free verse. Set in 1998 during the Sri Lankan Civil War, the author herself lived through this time. *I am still in the middle of reading this book and will update this post after I have finished.