Her Seven Brothers

Her Seven Brothers is a retelling of the Cheyenne legend. This legend tells the creation of the Big Dipper. This is a story within story. The book begins with a storyteller telling this story to the young children of a tribe. All of the Cheyenne designs used in the book are authentic. I liked that the illustrator researched Cheyenne designs and used them in the book. This allows children who are reading this book to learn about Indian designs. It exposes them to a culture they might not know of. The theme of this book is being kind and helping others, especially your family. The sister makes elaborate clothes for her brothers and protects her youngest brother. In turn, the youngest brother protects his sister from the buffalos. All of show more the brothers and sisters escape the herd of buffalo just in time. They join the stars and become the Big Dipper. I found this story to be extremely interesting. I had never heard of the legend of the Big Dipper, so I feel I learned something new. This would be a great story for students to read. show less

An interesting story about both the Native American culture and the creation of the Big Dipper. It speaks of the strength and courage of the girl who left her family to find her seven brothers. Once she found them, they accepted each other immediately and became a family. They had a strong bond that not even the buffalo tribe could shake when they demanded the girl. In their escape, they became the Big Dipper. It is another look into astronomy through the eyes of another culture. To some of us, the stars are only that, stars. To other cultures, the stars are storytellers and people. It is a fascinating concept and to know the stories of stars can make looking into the night sky a different experience.

I enjoyed this book. I found it very sad yet also beautiful. It reminded me a lot of other Native American stories I have read, in which any type of heroic action requires some type of sacrifice. I would use this book in a school setting to show to third or fourth graders to illustrate how different cultures interpret events differently. This story is about the origins of the Big Dipper. I would compare it to other stories of the origins of the Big Dipper.

A young Native American girl knows she must travel North to find the seven brothers she has yet to meet. When she finds them, she has gifts for them and they quickly call her "sister". They take care of each other, as brothers and sisters do, but one day a messenger comes to take her away.

This took me back to my childhood when I loved to hear the stories of how the stars got to be where they are.

This book could be incorporated with lessons regarding Native Americans (particularly those of the Great Plains) or even to begin a lesson on astronomy.

I liked this folktale and Goble's retelling of it. The story is fun and the illustrations are beautiful. I think this book would be great for a curriculum dealing with folktales or Native American culture.

Loved the pictures and the story!

A girl sets out to find her 7 brothers who live far from her home, despite the obstacle of the buffalo charging she was able to reconnect with her brothers in the sky as starts.