Balto and the Great Race

by Elizabeth Cody Kimmel, Nora Koerber (Illustrator)

Balto has a quiet life as a sled dog—until tragedy strikes. Dozens of children in Nome become sick with diphtheria. Without antitoxin serum, they will perish—and the closest supply is 650 miles away! The only way to get the serum to Nome is by sled, but can the dogs deliver it in time? Heading bravely into a brutal blizzard, Balto leads the race for life.

A Kansas City Children’s Book Award for Grades 1–3

Genres: Childrens, Nonfiction, Animals, History, Adventure, Dogs, Audiobook

112 pages, Paperback

First published December 21, 1999

Reviews

[Salena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this every year to my third graders, and it's gets better every time! There are so many things that students can learn from this book. It's part of our historical fiction unit, and we use it to teach our kids how to make notes.

[Kelsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book provides a good overview for young readers who might be interested in the true story of Balto and/or the origins of the Iditarod. I picked it up because it was the only Kindle book about Balto available from our public library and I wanted a better sense of the history to help support a unit of study some of our 7th graders are doing. Balto and the Great Race would be a fun read aloud with younger students.

The story is enhanced by explanations of what happened to Balto after the famous run to Nome, as well as by the author's admission of conflicting information about the details of the event. Ms. Kimmel managed to convey the danger and intensity without too much speculation or embellishment, allowing the events to speak for themselves. My only concern was the assertion that, "Every Alaskan dog with a breath of life in him dreamed of running the great northern sled races," made in the opening chapter of the book.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

We love Balto and Togo!!

[Shao Pheng · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balto and the Great Race is about a race using dogs and sleds to get the diphtheria vaccine to the city of Nome, Alaska. The train couldn't get to Nome because of the snow.

Balto was the lead dog used by Kassen Gunner to lead sled dogs. Balto was the lead dog because he knew the track the best and was the fastest. The plot is about helping others. Balto and Kassen had to run 53 miles across Alaska because the sled team at Point Safety who was supposed take over wasn’t there. Balto and Kassen gunnar went threw ice cracking, snow falling and blizzards to get the diphtheria vaccine to Nome.

This book is geared towards both children and grownups because its non fiction. A strength in this book is a picture on the map of the way they were going from Anchorage to Nome. Another strength is that i has lots of details. A weakness of the book is some chapters had a few of pages and other chapters had short pages. Another weakness is they have hard words to say. Overall this book is great it sends a message about helping others.

[Anthonyc chilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Balto is the sled dog leader. He lives in the coldness of Alaska. The person who is taking care of him ,hears something on the radio. he called the radio and said he do it. It was a relay race, and he had the team to do it.

One of the characters in the book is Togo. He changes a lot through out the book. Togo goes from being one of the best dogs. In front of the other dogs, to getting hurt and not being able to lead. And being the leader makes them feel good. so it's sad he got stuff in his paw's.


I liked this book because it reminded me of my cousin. My cousin lives in Nome Alaska. He has a sled team. His lead dog got hit by a snowmobile on accident. so his lead dog couldn't lead for about 6 months.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An exciting way to introduce early elementary school graders to some history, brave hearts, and starring heroic sled dogs! A diphtheria outbreak in Nome, Alaska leaves many children sick with medicine hundreds of miles away. It becomes a race a fierce race to deliver the medicine in time to save the kids.
My 7-year-old granddaughter did not like reading this book...maybe too difficult? She did like the story when I read it aloud.

[R Waterfall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this whole book in an evening, since it was so hard to put down. This event was gripping and full of adventure, and I loved the storytelling in this book. Not only was Balto crazy amazing, his musher, Kaasen and all the other relay teams (including lead sled dog Togo) deserve so much credit. Also, Dr. Welch and Nurse Morgan in Nome worked so tirelessly (ok, they were exhausted) to help the people, especially children, infected with diphtheria. I really liked this book! :)

[Leilamid Midelfort · Rating 3 out of 5]

The dogs were anthropomorphized a lot more than I liked considering this is a non-fiction book. Quick read. Interesting story but only just scratched the surface about this dog’s life. Would love to read more about Balto and the 1925 diphtheria outbreak in Nome.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finding that our local library didn't have any books about Balto, we put a few on hold only to find out that they were chapter books rather than picture books! Despite this, it was a great read-aloud with a nice balance between factual information and action / plot. While I knew the general story of Balto and the dogsled effort to get medicine to Nome, I still learned things from the book, particularly what happened to him and his team afterwards. The only drawback of the book was that many of the pictures were larger with less text on the pages, so it was tricky as a read aloud to allow enough time for taking in the details while continuing the story.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my 2nd graders who adored learning about Balto. The Totally True Adventure books are packed with facts and are a great way to introduce nonfiction subjects in an engaging manner. The kids and I all learned so much about the landscape of Alaska and the history of dog sledding. This text inspired a lot of insightful discussions and made the kids want to read more Totally True Adventure books.

[Alex T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

actual rating 3.5/5

Just a simple and short account of the Serum Run. Overall I liked it but it does feel a bit stale and insignificant. Also some things I'm sure are dated or disproven nowadays (e.g. Balto not being a purebred Siberian husky despite this book saying he is).

Overall a harmless read for people who want to learn about the Serum Run but lacking in depth. Read The Cruelest Miles if you want actual in-depth info on it (note: this book is for an older target audience).

[Moonkiszt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to in Yachats, Oregon by 6 of 8 grandkids. . .it was early and cold and was great atmosphere to accompany the telling of this tale! And then the sun came out as the sled rounds the bend. . .and the day is saved and we are warmed. A Kodak moment!

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn’t know the Iditarod was created to commemorate a serum run by mushers to a town in Alaska. It was fascinating to read how and why that trip was made. It’s a real story with fictional action, but with as much truth as the author could find. Very neat way to tell the story.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about the Great Dash to Nome in 1925, focusing on the dog sled teams and particularly Balto, who led the last team into Nome during a blizzard. Written as a story but full of details and facts about the true tale.

[Joey W · Rating 5 out of 5]

We read this aloud because it went with the time period we're studying and it was really good. It told the story really well and in an engaging way. I knew the story of Balto loosely, but this book showed how incredible what him and the other dogs did was.

[Mary Grace Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

My kids and I really enjoyed listening to this book! It was very factual and interesting. And really cool listening to the real story since we had seen the animated movie which I can't totally remember but I believe is not totally true to the story.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

You would like it because it was exiting. If you like dogs you would like this book because the main character is a dog. If you like true stories you would like this book. - William

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

[Edwina Book Anaconda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well written and researched.
Bravo to the author!

[Jontayshela]

This book is amazing

[Stacy LinDell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book for children. Balto is the sled dog equivalent of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, but helping deliver vaccinations instead if Santa's gifts. Engaging, educational, thrilling.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well-researched true story about Balto, Togo, and the famous serum run to Nome, Alaska for young readers.

[MustBeThurs Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a great read-aloud book for me to read to my son and nephew to get them settled for bed during a sleepover weekend.

[Delores Berta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Balto and the Great Race.

My special needs granddaughter loved this book when I read it to her.
We both enjoyed Elizabeth Cody Kimmel's research and writing.

[Ardie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great adventure nonfiction for school age kids.

[Shelly Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

We liked Togo better but this has some good info in it as well and was a quick read.

[Ada Taşpınarlıoğlu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ben çok sevdim heyecanlıydı.Okumanızı tavsiye ederim. 👍

[Kemal · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son likes it. Learning real story of Balto makes him happy.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good quick read for some of my lower readers.

[Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it for work! Fun, informative and well written :)