Joseph Bruchac

As Bruchac - a prolific children's author of Abenaki ancestry - notes in his afterword to this excellent picture-book, the Thanksgiving story is seldom told from the Native American perspective, and is usually marred by gross historical and cultural inaccuracies. That these untruths are spoon-fed to our children as part of our national mythology, makes them all-the-more harmful.

Squanto's Journey is an excellent corrective for some of the misinformation currently available, telling of the show more life story of Tisquantum (Squanto), a member of the Patuxet nation, whose role in befriending the English settlers of Plymouth would prove so fateful. Young readers will perhaps be surprised to learn that Squanto was kidnapped by an English captain, sold as a slave to the Spanish, and that, when he was finally able to return to his homeland, discovered most of his people had been killed by diseases brought to the Americas by European settlers.

Despite this horrifying history, Squanto believed in the possibilities of peace and friendship, and when the settlers at Plymouth needed his help, he gave it freely. This moving story of a true pniese, or man of honor, who never allowed suffering to embitter him, is matter-of-fact and realistic, without being brutal. Accompanied by Greg Shed's gorgeous gouache illustrations, Squanto's Journey should be required reading for anyone who thinks that being thankful requires forgetting the truth... show less

An engaging collection of traditional and original tall tales from New York State's Adirondack region, Hoop Snakes, Hide Behinds, and Side-Hill Winders (all names of legendary Adirondack creatures), was a real eye-opener for me, as I had somehow unconsciously internalized the idea that lumberjack tales were the exclusive province of the forest folklore of such northerly midwestern states as Minnesota, or Michigan. Not so, apparently! Just as the midwest had their Paul Bunyan, so did the show more Adirondacks have Bill Greenfield, a tall-tale-telling logger (apparently based upon an historical figure) whose exploits were first recorded in the 1930s, in Harold W. Thompson's Body, Boots, and Britches: Folktales, Ballads, and Speech from Country New York. Just as Wisconsin had its Hodag - a creature with with the head of an ox, the feet of a bear, the back of a dinosaur and the tail of an alligator - so dig the Adirondacks have its Swamp Auger, a strange creature with the head of a crocodile, and a skinny body, with knobby-kneed legs.

The first section of Hoop Snakes, Hide Behinds, and Side-Hill Winders (there are three altogether) details the exploits of Bill Greenfield, with a brief introduction to the character, and eleven tales featuring his many extraordinary adventures. Here we have the story of Bill Greenfield's Breakfast, with its creation of a gargantuan griddle for flapjacks, and its mention of a blue ox named Babe (Paul Bunyan is named in the narrative, where it is claimed that he was a somewhat younger, smaller lumberjack than Bill, who "also" had a blue ox named Babe). Bill frightens away a famous wrestler in Bill Greenfield and the Champion Wrestler, and defeats the Devil himself in Bill and the Devil. Huge mosquitoes make off with a giant sap pan in Bill Greenfield and the Mosquitoes, forming Lake Champlain in the end; while Mrs. Greenfield teaches her husband a lesson about tale-telling, in How Bill's Wife Taught Him a Thing or Two. Six other tales round out this first part of the collection, featuring Bill's unusual dog, his logging ventures, and his adoption by the bears for a few seasons.

The second section includes four original tall tales featuring Joseph Bruchac's grandfather, Jesse Bowman, a gentle man of Abenaki descent, whose role in raising the author is laid out in Bruchac's autobiography, Bowman's Store: A Journey to Myself. In Grampa Jesse and the Used Nails, Grampa Jesse's mania for saving anything that still had "some use in it" leads to an unexpected (and rather hilarious) incident involving some shingles (please don't try this at home, kids!). Grampa Jesse and the Patented Corn Planter features Grampa Jesse's weakness for anything sold by traveling salesmen, in this case, a mechanical corn planter that produces a very unusual harvest. A very clever fish named Speckly becomes Grampa Jesse's companion, in Grampa Jesse and the Bulltrout; while an odd storm, with its Adirondack Southwester-Northwester winds, leads to the loss of his chickens, in Grampa Jesse and the Chickens.

The third and final section of the book, entitled Life in the Woods, focuses on some of the legendary creatures of the Adirondacks, from the out-sized fleas and lice that inhabit the loggers themselves, in Life in the Log Camps, to the shy creatures who are always hiding behind something, in The Hide-Behind. The Swamp Auger, mentioned above, appears, as does the Side-Hill Winder, a mountain creature that has "evolved" shorter legs on one side, in order to cope with its steep habitat.

Full of exaggeration and humor, these stories are sure to please young folklore lovers, particularly those with a taste for tall tales. Children in New York state, in particular, will be glad to learn that we have our own home-grown lumberjack tradition. With an amusing text, and appealing black and white illustrations by Tom Trujillo, this is a folkloric collection I recommend - it deserves to be better known! show less

"The outer work will never be puny if the inner work is great." Meister Eckhart's quote is the awe-inspiring depiction of Crazy Horse and his vision which can be almost as illuminating as his very own enlightenment. This self-actualization brought Crazy Horse, once called Curly as a child, an aura of wisdom. His modesty, compassion, and generosity, made him known by many. With every page the reader is drawn in with both story and illustration. Each aesthetically stunning with detail to help show more bring the past to life. When the unthinkable happens and one's way of life is hastily seized; what cannot be taken is the freedom to choose. Crazy Horse knew this as he always chose his words mindfully. A perfect read as a reminder of the deep wisdom that lived on the lands in America long before white settlers impetuously plowed their way through. show less

Malian was visiting her grandparents on their Wabanaki reservation when the pandemic caused everything to shut down, stranding her there and her parents in Boston. Malian does her best to participate in remote learning, but internet is unreliable on the reservation. She misses her parents but is mostly glad to be with her grandparents, hearing their stories and helping them. And a friendly dog who Malian calls Malsum (the word for wolf) shows up to protect them, knowing instinctively who is show more friend and who presents a danger.

This novel in verse is a perfect time capsule of the early pandemic days, as well as an introduction to Wabanaki history and present-day life - which Malian shares with her teacher and classmates.

"No one should feel guilty
about the past. Unless
they're not doing
anything about the present.
That's what
my grandparents say.
Think about what we
are doing now and how
it will affect the world
seven generations from today,
and not just in the next election." (175) show less