Editorial Review

For most people, being swept away in a horse stampede during a raging thunderstorm would be a terrifying disaster. For the young Native American girl in Paul Goble's 1979 Caldecott-winning masterpiece, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, it is a blessing. Although she loves her people, this girl has a much deeper, almost sacred connection to her equine friends. The storm gives her the opportunity to fulfill her dream--to live in a beautiful land among the wild horses she loves.

Reviews (2)

The Great Spirit gives horses (the sacred dog) to the people
The Spanish brought the first horses to North America and for the tribes of nomadic buffalo hunters of the Great Plains there were the most miraculous of creatures.Various tribes called the horse similar names: Sacred Dog, Big Dog, Elk Dog, and Mysterious Dog.Keep in mind that these tribes used dogs to carry and drag burdens, and a horse could not only carry and drag heavier burdens than dogs, but could also carry a rider and run really fast.One things young readers will appreciate in "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" is the idea of how something that they taken for granted, such as the horse, would look to people who had never seen one before.

"The Gift of the Sacred Dog" tells the story of the first encounter between these native tribes and these wild horses, now told in a way that treats the "Sacred Dogs" as gifts given by the Great Spirit.In this telling by writer-artist Paul Goble a young boy prayers for help for his people, who have grown hungry, and the Great Spirit responds by sending the gift of the Sacred Dogs down from the sky, which allow the tribe to hunt for buffalo.After their arrival, life becomes good for the people and they live as relatives with the Sacred Dogs and other living things, as the Great Spirit wishes them to live.Consequently, "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" sounds some of the environmental themes we associate with the Native American culture in addition to providing their perspective on how they came to be the great horse people of the Plains.

The last page of the book has a Sioux song for the return of the buffalo and apparently song excerpts from Sioux songs about horses, but I am not sure that the people of "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" are necessarily supposed to be the Sioux.Goble's artwork is a prime attraction of these books that he has done for Reading Rainbow, Orchard, and other publishers.The first of his work that I came across was "Red Hawk's Account of Custer's Last Battle," and the best way of describing Goble's illustrations is that he essentially works in the style of the Native America artists of the 19th century, using the mediums of the 20th.At the very least he is clearly inspired by such artwork, which makes his work an interesting blending of the old and the new, not to mention being totally appropriate for his subject matter.I especially like the contrast between the simply drawn horses and the often intricate and detailed clothing worn by the human characters.

Reviews (1)

Don Imus made my buy this book - I'm glad I did.
I am a faithful listen of Don Imus' show "Imus In The Morning".One morning he was talking about this book and how much his son Wyatt loved it.He started telling the story, but just stopped short of the end.I was so intrigued I ordered one up!

Isbn: 0792270746
Sales Rank: 548042
Subjects:  1. Children's 4-8 - Picturebooks    2. Children: Grades 3-4    3. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Native American    4. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Single Title    5. Folklore    6. General    7. Great Plains    8. Indians of North America    9. Juvenile Nonfiction    10. Legends    11. Legends, Myths, & Fables - Other   

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The Cheyenne legend of how the Big Dipper was created
Paul Goble's telling of the story of "Her Seven Brothers" will open the minds of young readers to the intriguing idea that different people look up at the same stars in the sky and see different things.In this case the story is about the seven stars that form the Big Dipper, the most recognizable constellation in the northern night sky."Her Seven Brothers" retells the Cheyenne legend of a girl who was taught how to embroider with dyed porcupine quills onto deer and buffalo skin robes and clothes.One day she begins making sets of clothes, a shirt and pair of moccasins, explaining she has seen in her mind seven brothers who live by themselves far in the north country where the cold wind comes from.She is making them clothes because they have no sister, and when she is done she will find their tipi and ask them to be her brothers.

However, how the young girl made the clothes and found the seven brothers is only the first part of the story.Once she is there the story takes a turn when the chief of the Buffalo Nation demands that the seven brothers send their sister to him.If they do not obey, then the whole Buffalo Nation will come to get her and the brothers will be trampled.How the seven brothers and their sister get out of this situation will explain how the Big Dipper was created.Young readers will be interested to learn that there are really eight stars in the Big Dipper and what the tiny star means in the context of this legend."Her Seven Brothers" also speaks to the birds, animals, and flowers that share the earth with us as reminders of the generosity of the Creator, reflecting the strong Native American tradition of living in harmony with nature.

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Paul Goble tells a story of Falling Star, the Savior
After several volumes devoted to the misadventures of Iktomi, the trickster of the Plains Indians, Paul Goble turns to a story one of the many triumphs of Falling Star, the Savior, who is known as Stone Boy, Blood Clot Boy, Lodge Boy, or White Plume Boy by other.Young readers might be familiar with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "Song of Hiawatha," which tells the story of an unspecified Iroquois or Ojibwa Savior.Despite the different names and the variations of the story, all of these myths tell of the Savior's miraculous birth and his wisdom even when he was a little boy.Falling Star embodies the ideals of bravery, wisdom, kindness, and generosity, which makes him the true counterpart to Iktomi.All though neither figure ever ages, Falling Star is always trying to help bring order to chaos and to right wrongs.

"Crow Chief" tells of how the Crow Nation ("Kanji Oyate") was put in its rightful place by Falling Star, and explains how it was that all of the crows who once were white are now black.The story is set so far in the past that the people of the plains had neither guns or horses and hunted buffaloes with stone-headed spears and arrows.At that time the Crown Nation had a great leader named Crow Chief who hated people because he wanted to be chief over everyone.Whenever the people would hunt buffalo, Crow Chief would fly off with is followers and warn the buffaloes, calling "Caw-caw-caw!"The people pray for help and their prayers are answered when Falling Star comes to camp.

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The ancient story of how the Sun Dance came to the people
Star Boy lived as a baby with his mother in the Sky World, where everybody knew that Morning Star was his father, and the Sun and the Moon were his grandparents.But when he became a boy he lived in the world below, where he bore a mysterious scar across his face.The people said this was because of the disobedience of his mother, for which she was cast down from the Sky World along with her son, whom they called Scarface.As the boy grew up he fell in love with the daughter of the chief and it was she who gave him the courage to go back to the Sky World to beg the Sun's forgiveness.

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Beyond the Ridge
I absolutely love this book!My 4 year old son picked it out of the library at random.I believe he was lead to read it.Each time we have children friends who loose a loved one, we give them this book.It helps my children understand death in a very enlightened way.

The Best Book About Loss
Paul Goble's "Beyond the Ridge" is a beautiful, comforting, simple book for children of all ages who have experienced the loss of a loved one.
This book is taken from a Native American story about the death of a woman and her journey beyond the ridge into the realm of spirit.Voices call her, and animals guide her, and the familiar scenery nourishes her as she travels home from the mundane world into the land of her ancestors.
The beautiful illustrations, simple and direct language, and comforting nature of this story encourage us to regard death as a process of adventure into greater territory than our bodies can permit.
I keep copies of this book in paperback to give to friends who have experienced a loss (because I so frequently loaned my own hardback copy that I feared it would break down from overuse.)I replenish my stock by ordering a few copies at a time, and I keep them on my bookshelf to share with others when words fail me.Everyone who has received (or borrowed) this book from me has reported feeling consoled and uplifted - even as they faced the death of their loved one - by the beauty of this simple childrens' book.Adults often become childlike when confounded by grief, and the nature of this book is to approach the issue through simplicity and grace, so it works for all of us.
I never want to be without a copy of this book on hand.

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Paul Goble begins his stories of Iktomi the trickster
"Iktomi and the Boulder" is the first in a series of stories about the trickster of the Lakota retold and illustrated by Paul Goble.Iktomi (pronounced "eek-toe-me") is the hero, so to speak, of a series of humorous stories.The trickster is a universal character in North American myths and legends, known by different names in different parts of the country.The common denominator is that Iktomi is always trying to get the better of others, but usually ends up being the one who looks foolish.

In this first story Iktomi is out walking along dressed in his best clothes, so that he looks like a real chief.The problem is that as he continues on his long walk under the hot sun Iktomi starts to wish that he had not put on so many clothes.While resting in the shade of a great boulder he comes up with the idea of leaving his blanket on top of the boulder so he does not have to carry it any farther.But he tells the blanket he is doing this so that the blanket can help the boulder keep the hot sun off of him.This sounds like generosity on Iktomi's part, but as soon he notices a storm cloud is coming he wants the blanket back.The thing is, the boulder is not happy with Iktomi taking back what he has given, and he goes after our hero.Who can possibly help Iktomi against an angry boulder?

Young readers will enjoy the ways in which Iktomi proves to be too clever for his own good.In story after story Iktomi proves himself to be a mischief maker who I always up to no good and getting himself into trouble.There are older stories about Iktomi in which the Creator entrusts him with those aspects of the Creation that people seem to be mistakes, such as earthquakes, floods, disease, flies, and, of course, mosquitoes.But Goble is focusing on those that make a point about Iktomi's behavior, even if the moral is never explicitly stated.

Isbn: 0802852718
Sales Rank: 356461
Subjects:  1. Children's 4-8 - Bibles    2. Children: Grades 3-4    3. Christian children    4. Creation    5. English    6. Juvenile Fiction    7. Prayer-books and devotions    8. Religion - Bible - Stories    9. Religious - General   

Isbn: 0060298138
Sales Rank: 166763
Subjects:  1. Animals - Horses    2. Children's All Ages - Picturebooks    3. Children: Grades 3-4    4. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Native American    5. Folklore    6. Goble, Paul    7. Great Plains    8. Horses    9. Indians of North America    10. Juvenile Fiction    11. Legends, Myths, & Fables - Other    12. Pawnee Indians    13. People & Places - United States - Native American    14. Juvenile Fiction / Ethnic / Native American   

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Paul Goble tells the legend of the sacred Buffalo Woman
I have been enjoying Paul Goble's retelling of the stories of Iktomi the Trickster, that I almost forget he does other legends of the Plains Indians that are more serious in nature.Such a tale would be "The Return of the Buffaloes: A Plains Indian Story about Famine and Renewal of the Earth."Most young readers already know that the buffaloes were sacred to the Plains Indians and that the animals provide most of what the people needed to live and flourish on the Great Plains.On the last page of this book Goble talks about how when a buffalo was killed little of it was wasted and the other parts, from tanned hide and skull to bones, sinews, and dung, all had their uses.

At the beginning of this story spring has come, but the buffaloes have not returned and grass is now growing in the paths they always used.With the winter supplies all gone, every one hungry, and the hunters bringing in nothing to eat, the leaders of the village choose two young men to go and search for the buffaloes.But even at the Four Corners of the World they do not see the buffalo making the plains black with their numbers. The two young men are in the depths of despair they smell buffalo and find hoof prints everywhere leading to the entrance of a cave.There they find a woman, mysterious and wonderful to look at, who tells them: "I will feed your people, and make them happy."

I have read enough Native American legends that the story of the two young hunters who go off in search of the buffalo and encounter a mysterious woman.These other versions usually involve the sacred White Buffalo and the woman asking the people to build her a sacred tipi in the middle of their camp, but Goble is telling a different version of this ancient tale.However, the Buffalo Woman is still a sacred Mother Earth figure, sent by the Buffalo Nation so that the people will understand the great gift that has been given to them and which will return again and again to renew the Earth.

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A Blackfoot story on the dangers of neglecting children
"The Lost Children: The Boys Who Were Neglected" is a sacred Blackfoot Indian myth retold and illustrated by Paul Goble that serves as a timeless reminder about the dangers of neglecting children.It is, we are told, "a story about the world which is above our world," that was told in the dark in the old days.The premise is that children are given to us by the Great Spirit as God's greatest gift, but sometimes we forget this important point and are not kind to them, which is what happened when the people did not look after six little children.

These were six brothers who had been orphaned.They slept and ate in different places each day and their only clothes were those that people had discarded.Their only friends were the camp dogs.But the other children threw stones as them and chased them away (Goble paints the other children and the adults of the camp as silhouettes of color the first time we see them; they do not get to be represented as being human because their actions make them less than that).The six brothers were so sad at their treatment that they did not wish to be people any longer and debated what they should be instead: flowers, stones, waters, or tress.But in the end they decide to be stars and are welcomed into the Sun Man's tipi.

Reviews (2)

Can you believe it?Now Iktomi has gone and lost his eyes
By the time you get to "Iktomi Loses His Eyes," the seventh adventure of the legendary Lakota Trickster, the title alone should have you rolling your own eyes at to what he could possibly do to lose his eyes.Not that we put anything past him.After all, Paul Goble has made it clear in these stories that Iktomi, which means "spider" in the Lakota language, is an interesting mixture of cleverness, untrusthworthiness, and stupidity.Although the morals for these stories are never explicit like they are at the end of Aesop's fables, clearly Iktomi stories serve as examples of how not to behave.

Anyhow, Iktomi was walking along (which we know is how all Iktomi stories start out) and complaning that nobody likes him.So he dresses himself up like a great warrior to make himself feel better and as he goes out with his great-great-great-great grandfather's stone-headed tomahawk looking for somebody to crack over the head he discovers a man doing a strange thing.He appears to be talking to himself, but really he is doing a magic trick in which he orders his eyes to fly from his head to some place and then return.Iktomi begs for the man to teach him this wonderful trick and the man agrees.But the man warns Iktomi not to do the trick more than four times a day because then something bad happens.Iktomi, of course, is not really listening because he is already imagining how everybody will think him the cleverest person in the whole world, while the readers have a good idea of how Iktomi is going to lose his eyes.

You would think that loses his eyes would make an impression on Iktomi, but you know that is not going to happen.Iktomi is not going to go home to face Mrs. Iktomi without eyes, even if they are not the two eyes he had in the first place.Goble, whose India ink and watercolor illustrations are filled with authentic details with regards to the dress and possessions of the Plains Indians, makes a point of always explaining that these stories are meant to be told aloud, with the listeners being given ample opportunity to make their own comments ridiculing Iktomi and making fun of his problems (that is why even though Iktomi's thoughts are printed in small type they are not mean to be read aloud).My only concern is that in Native American myths and legends the Trickster is often a force for good, but that aspects of Iktomi never gets covered in Goble's stories.

Isbn: 053109524X
Sales Rank: 125602
Subjects:  1. Algonquin Indians    2. Children's 4-8    3. Children: Grades 1-2    4. Creation    5. Fairy Tales & Folklore - Native American    6. Folklore    7. Great Plains    8. Legends    9. Mythology   

Reviews (2)

A story of friendship and treachery between two Lakota boys
"Adopted by the Eagles: A Plains Indian Story of Friendship and Treachery" is another of the imaginative retellings of a Native American legend by writer-illustrator Paul Goble.This particular story is about White Hawk (Chetan Sa) and Tall Bear (Mato Hanska), two boys who formed such a special friendship that they became "kolas" (friend), who swore to do anything for each other.The key to this difficult and sacred relationship were the Four Virtues of Bravery, Patience, Kindness, and Wisdom.But White Hawk and Tall Bear both fall in love with the beautiful Red Leaf (Wahpe Lutawin), and as the women of people told one another, "Red Leaf cannot marry both of them."

One day White Hawk told Tall Bear of a dream in which they had captured many horses from their enemies.Thinking this was a sign, they go off to bring home all those horses, but when they are far from home one friend takes the opportunity to betray the other.While one of the two returns home to Red Leaf the other is saved from death by the eagles, thereby setting up the climax of this story.Goble first learned this story from Edgar Red Cloud, the great-grandson of Chief Red Cloud, in 1959, although at the time he did not appreciate that such a myth was essentially scripture for the teller of the tale."Adopted by the Eagles" emphasizes two recurring elements of North American Indian literature, namely the treachery between two warriors far from home and animals who help people in need.Young readers will see this is true if they read some of the other books by Goble, such as "The Friendly Wolf."

The illustrations in this book, which are in India ink and watercolor, seem to me to bring the traditional Native American art that I have seen from the 19th century into the 20th century (and beyond).The result, of course, is something totally appropriate to the stories that Goble tells in these books.I also appreciate the note for teachers that Goble provides at the start of his book, where he asks that students not be asked to write their own "Indian" stories because it belittles such stories as "Adopted by the Eagles" to suggest that any child can invent one as a school project.I think Goble is right in his observation that students would not be asked to do to write their only Greek myths of legends of King Arthur.Obviously the value of these stories are in the service of insight into the culture of Native American peoples or in as an example of comparative mythology, both of which good enough reasons to have young students read them.

Adopted By The Eagles
Who likes being adopted nobody does especially Tall bear when his kola White hawk abanded him at a butte that had a eaglesnest on a little tree.His kola who lied to the village that Tall bear was killed by the eagles.

Reviews (1)

Three Native American tales told & illustrated by Paul Goble
The "Paul Goble Gallery: Three Native American Stories" presents a trio of choice retellings of old stories of the Plains Indians adapted and illustrated by Paul Goble.Each demonstrates the power of these ancient tales and Goble's illustrations engender an appreciation of the Native American art style that he emulates.

"Her Seven Brothers" opens the minds of young readers to the intriguing idea that different people look up at the same stars in the sky and see different things. In this case the story is about the seven stars that form the Big Dipper, the most recognizable constellation in the northern night sky. "Her Seven Brothers" retells the Cheyenne legend of a girl who was taught how to embroider with dyed porcupine quills onto deer and buffalo skin robes and clothes. One day she begins making sets of clothes, a shirt and pair of moccasins, explaining she has seen in her mind seven brothers who live by themselves far in the north country where the cold wind comes from. She is making them clothes because they have no sister, and when she is done she will find their tipi and ask them to be her brothers.

However, how the young girl made the clothes and found the seven brothers is only the first part of the story. Once she is there the story takes an interesting turn when the chief of the Buffalo Nation demands that the seven brothers send their sister to him. If they do not obey, then the whole Buffalo Nation will come to get her and the brothers will be trampled. How the seven brothers and their sister get out of this situation will explain how the Big Dipper was created. Young readers will be interested to learn that there are really eight stars in the Big Dipper and what the tiny star means in the context of this legend. "Her Seven Brothers" also speaks to the birds, animals, and flowers that share the earth with us as reminders of the generosity of the Creator, reflecting the strong Native American tradition of living in harmony with nature.

One things young readers will appreciate in "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" is the idea of how something that they taken for granted, such as the horse, would look to people who had never seen one before.The Spanish brought the first horses to North America and for the tribes of nomadic buffalo hunters of the Great Plains there were the most miraculous of creatures. Various tribes called the horse similar names: Sacred Dog, Big Dog, Elk Dog, and Mysterious Dog. Keep in mind that these tribes used dogs to carry and drag burdens, and a horse could not only carry and drag heavier burdens than dogs, but could also carry a rider and run really fast.

"The Gift of the Sacred Dog" tells the story of the first encounter between these native tribes and these wild horses, now told in a way that treats the "Sacred Dogs" as gifts given by the Great Spirit. In this telling a young boy prayers for help for his people, who have grown hungry, and the Great Spirit responds by sending the gift of the Sacred Dogs down from the sky, which allow the tribe to hunt for buffalo. After their arrival, life becomes good for the people and they live as relatives with the Sacred Dogs and other living things, as the Great Spirit wishes them to live. Consequently, "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" sounds some of the environmental themes we associate with the Native American culture in addition to providing their perspective on how they came to be the great horse people of the Plains.

"The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses" does not folllow any one story exactly but is put together from a great number of stories belonging to the peoples who lived on the Great Plains that Goble had read or listened to over the years. This story is also premised on the importance of horses to these peoples. The title character is a girl in the village would loved horses so much that she would led them to drink at the river and when she spoke softly to them they would follow her. Her people recognized that she understood horses in a special way, which explains why this story ends the way that it does.

Every day after doing her chores the young girl would run off to be with the horses. One day there is a great lightning storm that drives the horses, carrying the young girl, over the horizon to a land she had never seen before. There she finds a beautiful spotted stallion, stronger and prouder and more handsome than any horse she had ever dreamed of. He is the leader of all the wild horses who roamed the hills and he welcome her to live with them. But a year later two hunters from her people discover her in the hills where the wild horses lived and they will try to bring the girl back to her parents. The question is whether the girl can be happy back with her people now that she has lived with the wild horses.