teacher notes The Last King of Angkor Wat Written and Illustrated by Graeme Base • Leadership • Making good choices • Nature and animals • Ancient Cambodia Synopsis We meet four very diff erent animals in the jungle, amid the ruins of the hauntingly beautiful Angkor Wat. Tiger, Gibbon, Water Buff alo and Gecko are discussing who among them would make the greatest king. Tiger believes his strength would make him a fi ne king, but Gibbon values his own compassion above Tiger’s strength. Water buff alo points out he never gives up, and kings need to be resilient. Little gecko proclaims that he is a great warrior, and kings must be fearless in battle. Suddenly, a mysterious elephant appears, pointing to the ruins of a temple on the hill. He explains that the animals must journey to the temple if they want to see who is worthy of being king. The journey that follows tests each of the four animals to their limits—revealing hidden truths and the great wisdom of the elephant as all is revealed at the top. Will any of them be good enough? About the Author Graeme Base is one of the world’s most loved and celebrated creators of children’s picture books. Graeme was born in England but came to Melbourne in 1966 and still lives in this vibrant Australian city with his wife and three children. Before Graeme wrote and illustrated his fi rst picture book in 1983, My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch, he worked in a string of advertising jobs as a designer, followed by a few years rocking out in a band called Rikitikitavi. The world of advertising was not for him, for such talent could only be channelled to create the most beautiful and fascinating picture books: “From My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch to Enigma, Base’s books have enthralled children worldwide. No page-turners these, rather pages to be pored over, studied carefully and exclaimed about when the secret is revealed. Books of jollity, whimsical animals, imagination and rollicking good fun.”– Map Magazine, 2008 Finally Graeme was able to turn a hobby into a successful career when Animalia was published in 1986. It received international acclaim and has sold almost three million copies worldwide. Other books include The Sign of the Seahorse, The Eleventh Hour, Jungle Drums, The Worst Band in the Universe, The Discovery of Dragons and Uno’s Garden. To read more about Graeme and his books, visit graemebase.com Teacher Notes may be reproduced for use in school activities. They may not be redistributed for commercial sale or posted to other networks. Copyright © 2014 Scholastic Australia Pty Limited. For more great resources go to www.scholastic.com.au/toolkit 1. Discussion Points Activities and Copymasters 1. WHAT HAS YOUR JOURNEY REVEALED? ACTIVITY 1 Each animal knows they have certain qualities before they set At the end of the story you can see the beautiful stone off on their journey, but what they don’t understand is that a carvings in the temple walls. This is a great opportunity leader must also be other things. for the children to sketch a plan for their own carving. The temple walls contained carvings of elephants, the symbol of Ask your students to describe what each animal realises they the ancient king and of compassion, strength, resilience and lack after completing their individual journeys: courage. Tiger Strong but lacks _________________________________________________ Split the picture into four, and children draw something that Gibbon Compassionate but lacks __________________________________ they associate with each quality from their own personal experience. Water Buffalo Determined but lacks ________________________________________ You might even go on to use this as the design for a clay Gecko Brave but lacks ___________________________________________________ carving. Why do you think it is important for a king or leader to have Download . all of these qualities? CM a, Stone Carving Design ACTIVITY 2 2. ANKGOR WAT—A PLACE FOR GREAT KINGS The illustrations in this book are striking, colourful and Angkor is a real place in Cambodia, a complex of temples extremely powerful. The animals with the backdrop of Ankgor built between 800 and 1200 AD by the Khmer civilisation. Wat are larger than life. From here the Khmer kings ruled over a vast region, from Vietnam all the way to China and the Bay of Bengal. There are This is a great opportunity to create some giant and colourful over 100 temples, including the famous Ankgor Wat— display paintings fit for a king! now one of Cambodia’s biggest tourist attractions. The children could choose their favourite animal, or draw all So this setting really is fit for a great king. four when they sketch their design for their painting in . Ask your students: CM b, A Painting for a King What do they think makes a great leader? ACTIVITY 3 Who is the mysterious elephant in the story? For those children who need extending, ask them to re-write their own version of The Last King of Angkor Wat. Do you think the elephant makes the other animals learn They should keep some factors the same but they can be as something new? How? creative as they wish with everything else! Why does he disappear at the end? Include: Why are there so many elephant carvings when the animals Four characters who feel they should be king return to the temple at the end? A mysterious setting A wise king who helps the other characters to learn something about themselves. CM c, The Last King of…….EXTENSION Teacher Notes may be reproduced for use in school activities. They may not be redistributed for commercial sale or posted to other networks. Copyright © 2014 Scholastic Australia Pty Limited. For more great resources go to www.scholastic.com.au/toolkit 2..