Sara Hoagland Hunter

Native American themed book.

Good frontloading in the introduction on the background of WWII and the role that Native American's had during the war. Great option to use in conjunction with history lesson in WWII and providing multiple perspectives on what a hero looks like. Super descriptions of the effort and bravery that the code talkers exerted during the war and how little recognition they received upon their return. Can be used as a conversation starter regarding languages without writing and preserving tradition. Useful for generating questions about why the US government insisted that Navajo's stop speaking their language and only use English and whether that was right or wrong and why.

Back of the book includes excellent examples of the code so readers can better visualize how it worked.

John's grandfather explains to him the story of the unbreakable code from WW2. John's grandfather is a Navajo code talker, and explains to his grandson, John, how the Navajo language, and creativity helped the United States win World War II.… (more)

Summary:
This story portrays the quiet pride of a Navajo code talker as he explains to his grandson how the Navajo language, faith, and ingenuity helped win World War II.

Personal Reaction:
I liked this book because our center is a Comanche center that emphasizes the importance of teaching Comanche language to the children. We have language speakers in the center as well as classes that our teachers attend in order to keep the language alive in the classroom. This book would be great to show the children the importance behind the reason our centers do this.

Classroom Extension Ideas:
1. Since the children in the Comanche Nation centers are learning Comanche, I would have them come up with their own sentence that they want translated.

2. I would have the children discuss the importance of their language and why they think they should learn it.… (more)