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The Beast of Lor
A series of curious circumstances bring together an African elephant and a young boy from an ancient British tribe.
- GenresMiddle Grade
54 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1977
1 person is currently reading
29 people want to read
About the author
Clyde Robert Bulla
108 books103 followersBorn to be a Writer
Almost as far back as he can remember, Clyde Robert Bulla wanted to write. Born on a farm in a small town in Missouri, Mr. Bulla's first school was a one-room country schoolhouse. One day his teacher asked each first grade student what he or she would do with a thousand dollars. Young Clyde answered that he would buy a table. His classmates laughed heartily, and his teacher was puzzled. “What I really meant,” says Mr. Bulla, “is a desk or other flat surface on which to write my stories!”
First Stories
Mr. Bulla's first piece of writing was titled, “How Planets Were Born.” The ambitious opening sentence was, “One night old Mother Moon had a million babies.” All through school, Mr. Bulla continued to write stories mostly, but plays and poetry, too. After years of gathering editor's rejection slips, Mr. Bulla sold a magazine story, then several more. Soon after, Mr. Bulla wrote a novel and a publisher accepted it.
The Difficult Years
In the excitement of publishing a novel, Mr. Bulla wrote two more books. Unfortunately, no one wanted to publish them. His luck took a turn for the worse when the publisher of his first book went bankrupt. For several years, he worked at a local weekly newspaper where he struggled with linotype, kept books, collected bills, and wrote a weekly column.
Success!
A couple of Mr. Bulla's weekly columns caught the attention of a well-known author and illustrator of children's books. She wrote to Mr. Bulla, suggesting that he try writing a children's book. He immediately sent her a manuscript for a children's book he'd written a year before. Within one week, an editor of a New York publisher read the manuscript,and it was accepted. The book was The Donkey Cart, published in 1946. Since then, Mr. Bulla has written over twenty books for children, as well as the music for several children's song books.
About The Chalk Box Kid
“When I was young,” explains Mr. Bulla, “I sometimes found it hard to cope in new surroundings, and I was apt to get off on the wrong foot. This is the story of a boy who got off on the wrong foot in a new school and how he tried to cope.” In describing the chalk garden, Mr. Bulla says, “I gave Gregory something I've always wished for: a big, blank wall that I could cover with my own drawings.”
Almost as far back as he can remember, Clyde Robert Bulla wanted to write. Born on a farm in a small town in Missouri, Mr. Bulla's first school was a one-room country schoolhouse. One day his teacher asked each first grade student what he or she would do with a thousand dollars. Young Clyde answered that he would buy a table. His classmates laughed heartily, and his teacher was puzzled. “What I really meant,” says Mr. Bulla, “is a desk or other flat surface on which to write my stories!”
First Stories
Mr. Bulla's first piece of writing was titled, “How Planets Were Born.” The ambitious opening sentence was, “One night old Mother Moon had a million babies.” All through school, Mr. Bulla continued to write stories mostly, but plays and poetry, too. After years of gathering editor's rejection slips, Mr. Bulla sold a magazine story, then several more. Soon after, Mr. Bulla wrote a novel and a publisher accepted it.
The Difficult Years
In the excitement of publishing a novel, Mr. Bulla wrote two more books. Unfortunately, no one wanted to publish them. His luck took a turn for the worse when the publisher of his first book went bankrupt. For several years, he worked at a local weekly newspaper where he struggled with linotype, kept books, collected bills, and wrote a weekly column.
Success!
A couple of Mr. Bulla's weekly columns caught the attention of a well-known author and illustrator of children's books. She wrote to Mr. Bulla, suggesting that he try writing a children's book. He immediately sent her a manuscript for a children's book he'd written a year before. Within one week, an editor of a New York publisher read the manuscript,and it was accepted. The book was The Donkey Cart, published in 1946. Since then, Mr. Bulla has written over twenty books for children, as well as the music for several children's song books.
About The Chalk Box Kid
“When I was young,” explains Mr. Bulla, “I sometimes found it hard to cope in new surroundings, and I was apt to get off on the wrong foot. This is the story of a boy who got off on the wrong foot in a new school and how he tried to cope.” In describing the chalk garden, Mr. Bulla says, “I gave Gregory something I've always wished for: a big, blank wall that I could cover with my own drawings.”
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 11, 2023
3.5 stars -- This story actually presents a cool time period to younger readers. Lud, the main character, lives in Britain during 55-54 BC when Julius Caesar invades Britain. The following paragraph is from britishheritage.com.
Caesar did not record his feelings about the failure of his 55 BC invasion, but he was careful to send a report to the Senate in Rome painting a favourable picture of what had, in reality, been a near disaster. As a result, the Senate voted a 20-day period of thanksgiving for Caesar's 'exploit.' To explain its lack of success, Caesar intimated that his expedition had been a mere dress rehearsal for a full-scale assault, planned for the following year. Convinced now that a new 'province' would soon be added to the Roman Empire, a motley group of opportunists, treasure-seekers, and adventurers joined Caesar's second invasion force. This time he took with him five legions (25,000 men) and 2,000 cavalry. He also embarked an elephant--probably the first ever to be seen in Britain.
The last sentence is key. Lud is the 'witch's child', his mother Gaim a witch, and after an encounter in the village, the villagers come to their hut with bad intentions. Gaim sensed this might happen and had created a hole in the wall of hut, which she sent Lud through so he could hide in the trees. After three days of hiding, Lud comes back to a destroyed hut and no sign of Gaim, whom he never sees again. He flees until he finds a cave, which he makes his home. A chance encounter with a wounded man named Edric is the second change in Lud's course of history. Edric tells him of the island and the ocean and seeing things of which Lud has never conceived until Edric describes them. Edric is kind to Lud -- Lud is not the witch's child to him -- and is appreciative of Lud's care of him. Edric never fully recovers, however, and when he dies, a bereft Lud takes the necklace that Edric always wore and puts it around his own neck. Then he sets out to see the places that Edric described to him, specifically the white cliffs and the ocean. He doesn't quite reach the cliffs because of warnings about the Romans, so he heads left straight toward the ocean. That is when the third change in Lud's course of history occurs. He comes upon the great beast, an elephant, though he does not know what an elephant is. For the sake of other readers, I will not ruin the end of the story. Suffice to say that while a lot happens, a 54-page book just doesn't do justice to what could have been done.
Caesar did not record his feelings about the failure of his 55 BC invasion, but he was careful to send a report to the Senate in Rome painting a favourable picture of what had, in reality, been a near disaster. As a result, the Senate voted a 20-day period of thanksgiving for Caesar's 'exploit.' To explain its lack of success, Caesar intimated that his expedition had been a mere dress rehearsal for a full-scale assault, planned for the following year. Convinced now that a new 'province' would soon be added to the Roman Empire, a motley group of opportunists, treasure-seekers, and adventurers joined Caesar's second invasion force. This time he took with him five legions (25,000 men) and 2,000 cavalry. He also embarked an elephant--probably the first ever to be seen in Britain.
The last sentence is key. Lud is the 'witch's child', his mother Gaim a witch, and after an encounter in the village, the villagers come to their hut with bad intentions. Gaim sensed this might happen and had created a hole in the wall of hut, which she sent Lud through so he could hide in the trees. After three days of hiding, Lud comes back to a destroyed hut and no sign of Gaim, whom he never sees again. He flees until he finds a cave, which he makes his home. A chance encounter with a wounded man named Edric is the second change in Lud's course of history. Edric tells him of the island and the ocean and seeing things of which Lud has never conceived until Edric describes them. Edric is kind to Lud -- Lud is not the witch's child to him -- and is appreciative of Lud's care of him. Edric never fully recovers, however, and when he dies, a bereft Lud takes the necklace that Edric always wore and puts it around his own neck. Then he sets out to see the places that Edric described to him, specifically the white cliffs and the ocean. He doesn't quite reach the cliffs because of warnings about the Romans, so he heads left straight toward the ocean. That is when the third change in Lud's course of history occurs. He comes upon the great beast, an elephant, though he does not know what an elephant is. For the sake of other readers, I will not ruin the end of the story. Suffice to say that while a lot happens, a 54-page book just doesn't do justice to what could have been done.
February 5, 2017
Well, that was different. I mean, it may be everyday that I read about Britain in the Roman Empire or about elephants but not every day that I read about elephants in Britain during the Roman Empire.
The narration is a little flat when compared to the other Clyde Robert Bulla books I've read. The story seems too short to me and I wanted more (which is a compliment, really.) Ruth Sanderson does a fab job with the illustrations. She is not just a horse artist (whatever that means, but that is a criticism I heard somewhere of her work.)
The narration is a little flat when compared to the other Clyde Robert Bulla books I've read. The story seems too short to me and I wanted more (which is a compliment, really.) Ruth Sanderson does a fab job with the illustrations. She is not just a horse artist (whatever that means, but that is a criticism I heard somewhere of her work.)
June 16, 2012
Wonderful.
I liked it more than my 6-year-old daughter did. There aren't any funny parts.
I liked it more than my 6-year-old daughter did. There aren't any funny parts.
Read
January 19, 2018from the fly-leaf:
"Long ago, before the first Roman invasion of England, a boy named Lud lived in a small hut in the forest with an old woman he called Gaim. He knew no one except Gaim. The only time he ventured into the small village by himself, the other children threw stones at him and called him “witch's child.”
Then one night the villagers came and burned Gaim's hut. Lud escaped. In his wanderings, he met a man once who told him about far-off places – but it wasn't until he found the elephant that had escaped from Julius Caesar's invading armies that Lud was no longer alone.
In fact, since no one in England had ever seen an elephant, Lud and the beast were soon fleeing for their lives – into the strangest adventure of all.
Master storyteller Clyde Robert Bulla is well known for his exciting, easy-to-read stories that combine high adventure with sensitivity and insight. Ruth Sanderson's illustrations are evocative of the mystery of a time long past."
"Long ago, before the first Roman invasion of England, a boy named Lud lived in a small hut in the forest with an old woman he called Gaim. He knew no one except Gaim. The only time he ventured into the small village by himself, the other children threw stones at him and called him “witch's child.”
Then one night the villagers came and burned Gaim's hut. Lud escaped. In his wanderings, he met a man once who told him about far-off places – but it wasn't until he found the elephant that had escaped from Julius Caesar's invading armies that Lud was no longer alone.
In fact, since no one in England had ever seen an elephant, Lud and the beast were soon fleeing for their lives – into the strangest adventure of all.
Master storyteller Clyde Robert Bulla is well known for his exciting, easy-to-read stories that combine high adventure with sensitivity and insight. Ruth Sanderson's illustrations are evocative of the mystery of a time long past."
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews