“Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back” begins with a tale from Grandfather to a small boy about the many scales on Old Turtle’s back and how they represent the thirteen cycles of the moon in each year. Grandfather’s stories continue with thirteen different stories from thirteen different Native American tribal nations about how each moon represents the changing of nature and the seasons of the year. Each tale includes the wonder of nature and animals to explain events such as why the coyote sings in winter or why maple sugar only flows once a year. The tale of the “Moon of Falling Leaves” tells us why the pine and spruce remain green and the other trees shed their leaves in the autumn. “Moon When Wolves Run Together” is a tale where an old wolf tells his people that when it is time for the people to leave the earth they can follow the wolf’s footsteps which have filled the sky with stars. The last story, “Big Moon”, tells how the “People of the Dawn place one final moon” in the sky called Kit-chee Kee-sos, Big Moon. It is the last in the “circle of seasons, thirteen moons on Old Turtle’s back.”

These pourquoi tales demonstrate the Native American’s respect of nature and the amazing stories they told to explain the events of each season. Each tale is represented with a beautiful poem and illustrated on two pages in soft earth-tone hues. Below each poem is the number sequence of the moon represented and the Native American tribe from where the tale originates. Some of the stories are almost romantic while others teach the consequences of our actions such as laziness. I loved these tales and could read them again and again.

In the classroom the book could be used for many purposes. The beautiful tales the Native Americans told could be represented with this book in discussion of their culture and ways of life. The number of moons in a year and how the Native Americans used the moon cycles of 28 days for their calendar would be an extension in a lesson on learning how to read the calendar. Calendars with the cycles of the moon could be provided to the students to teach them the days of the week and the names of the months. The stories about the moon representing that phase could provide an interesting introduction for each calendar month.

This book celebrates the seasons of the year through poems from the legends of such Native American tribes as the Cherokee, Cree, and Sioux.