From: sbrock@teal.csn.org (Steve Brock)
Subject: Children's books on Native American subjects
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 01:53:14 GMT

Here are reviews of childrens books on Native American topics:


For ages 12 and up:


RISING VOICES:  WRITINGS OF YOUNG NATIVE AMERICANS edited by Arlene
B. Hirschfelder and Beverly R. Singer.  Charles Scribner's Sons,
866 Third Ave., N.Y., NY  10022.  Index.  115 pp., $12.95 cloth.  
0-684-19207-1


                             REVIEW

     Hirschfelder and Singer have assembled a compelling collage of
heartfelt sentiments in this collection of essays and poetry, most
from the writer's class assignments in school.  The book is divided
into several classifications:  Identity, Family, Homeland, Ritual
and Ceremony, Education, and Harsh Realities.  Every selection
includes a biographical profile of the writer.  From the pride of
"We Are The Many" to the resentful "Going Into Space" (a two-and-a-
half billion dollar camping trip), these voices ask us in unison to
hear their message.  A masterful and evocative work.

Ages 8-12:


HIAWATHA:  MESSENGER OF PEACE by Dennis Brindell Fradin.  Margaret
K. McElderry Books, 866 Third Ave., N.Y., NY  10022.  Illustrated. 
48 pp., $14.95 cloth.  0-689-50519-1

                             REVIEW

     The Hiawatha of Longfellow's "The Song of Hiawatha" was an
impostor.  Actually, the name was borrowed from another work in
which Hiawatha was misnamed.  The false Hiawatha was a Chippewa,
while the real Hiawatha was an Iroquois.  The real Hiawatha stands
up in this "correct" account of his life.  Most of Hiawatha's early
days are based on speculation; there is a 100 year variance in
estimates of the time that he lived, from the late 1300s to the
late 1400s.  It is generally assumed that he lived before the
arrival of Columbus.  He possibly became a chief, but achieved
prominence when he spoke of peace and friendship during discussions
of revenge.  His wife and daughters were killed by Ododarhoh of the
Onondagas, and Hiawatha left his tribal camp to live alone.  After
a time, he confronted Ododarhoh and convinced him to change his
ways.  Hiawatha then organized a national government of the various
tribes, several ideas of which are used in the U.S. Constitution. 
The book is illustrated with Iroquois paintings and artifacts.  An
enlightening historical correction.





All Ages:


LOVE FLUTE by Paul Gobel.  Bradbury Press, 866 Third Ave., N.Y., NY 
10022.  Illustrated.  32 pp., $14.95 cloth.  0-02-736261-2


                             REVIEW

     There are few children's book illustrators as enduring as Paul
Gobel, who uses the art of the Plains Indians to create amazingly
colorful renditions of traditional Native American themes.  In
"Love Flute," originally recorded by Ella Deloria, Gobel tells of
a shy Indian brave, in love with a maiden but unable to speak of
it.  He leaves his tribe in frustration, following an arrow that he
shot, that guides him for four days.  On the fourth day, two Elk
Men give him a love flute with "our voices inside it."  On the way
back to his tribe's camp, he plays the flute and animals sing back
to him.  Guess what happens when he plays to the girl he loves? 
Collecting Gobel books is like collecting fine art.


Newsgroups: alt.native