Tarra and Bella

Name: Tarra and Bella
Author: Carol Buckley
ISBN: 9780399254437

Age Rating, Reading Level & Content Guide

The Elephant and Dog Who Became Best Friends

by Carol Buckley

Reading Level 6-7 LE · Mild · Emotional Ages 9-12 Balanced Read

The text is written at a 6th grade reading level, the subject matter is intended for middle graders (ages 9–12), and the content is mild with minimal sensitive material. Its HootRating code, LE, means mild content, mostly emotional.

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About This Book

What if the best friendship you ever had was with someone completely different from you? Imagine an enormous elephant named Tarra who lives all alone until a scrappy stray dog named Bella wanders into her life. Their bond is so strong, it changes everything—especially when Bella gets hurt and Tarra refuses to leave her side.

Themes

FriendshipAnimal BehaviorCompanionshipResilienceNature

Quick Assessment

This middle-grade fiction book tells the heartwarming story of Tarra, an Asiatic elephant living at a sanctuary in Tennessee, and Bella, a stray mixed-breed dog. It explores themes of unlikely friendships and animal social behavior, enhanced by vivid color photographs. Suitable for ages 9-12, the book provides a gentle, inspiring look at companionship and resilience, with educational notes about the Elephant Sanctuary.

Why we rated Tarra and Bella LE (Mild)

Tarra and Bella is written at a Level 6-7 reading level across 32 pages. Reading-wise, most kids in grade 8 and up can manage Tarra and Bella on their own; younger readers can enjoy it with a parent or teacher reading along.

We rate Tarra and Bella as LE (Mild, mostly emotional) because the content sits in the "Mild" range — mild conflict — the kind a child encounters in normal play and sibling life. Across our four dimensions (emotional, physical, social, thematic) the book reads as evenly mild; no single dimension stands out as a concern.

No specific content flags were raised by community reviewers, which is consistent with the mild intensity score.

Thematically, Tarra and Bella explores friendship, animal behavior, companionship, resilience, and nature — these threads give the book room to mean different things to different readers.

Good fit for

✓ Children in the Ages 9-12 range — the maturity and attention span match the story's pacing.
✓ Kids drawn to stories about friendship, animal behavior, companionship.

Maybe not for

! Readers looking for something heavier — this is a gentle, low-stakes story by design.

For Parents

Content Intensity

LE · Mild · Emotional

Emotional

Mild ←

Physical

Mild

Social

Gentle

Thematic

Gentle

Reading the HootRating code: the first letter is the content intensity (C = Gentle · L = Mild · M = Moderate · I = Intense · V = Very Intense); the second, when there is one, is the kind of content that drives it (E = Emotional · P = Physical · S = Social · T = Thematic). Reading level and age range are rated separately. How we rate

Light conflict or tension. Mild peril resolved quickly.

Data confidence: high

Was our "Mild" content intensity rating accurate for this book?