Module 4 Book Reviews

Module 4 Book Reviews

THE GREAT BALL GAME: A MUSKOGEE STORY

a. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

Roth, Susan L. 1994. THE GREAT BALL GAME: A MUSKOGEE STORY. By Joseph Bruchac. New York: Dial Books For Young Readers. ISBN: 0-8037-1539-0

b. PLOT SUMMARY

The birds and the animals were fighting over which group was better than the other. The birds thought they were better than the animals due to their wings while the animals thought they were better than the birds since they had teeth. The leaders of each group decided to settle the argument with a sports game. The bat played a pivotal role in determining the outcome of the game.

c. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This fictional story contains a Muskogee legend. The illustrator used paper from around the world to create the animal characters, scenery, and stick ball game items. The illustrator uses textured, solid, and multicolored paper to create different layers. Some pictures look two dimensional; however, other pictures have many layers such as the scene that shows the birds flying south for the winter.

The animal characters in the story contain close to their natural shades of color that they would have in the wild. Fortunately, the animals are not dressed in buckskin clothes or wearing feathers in a headband on top of their heads since this would have been a negative Native Indian stereotype.

TRENDS

The language patterns vary in this story. Most of the time, the animals speak in simple, choppy sentences to one another. The Bear, the leader of the animals, and the Crane, the leader of the birds, used longer complex sentences as they discussed the rules and consequences of the stickball game. The Bear also had longer conversations with the Bat. “You are not very big, but sometimes even the same ones can help.”

Theme of cultural conflict and exclusion are included in this story. The animals with teeth and the animals with wings each feel superior over the other group. The birds told the animals, “We who have wings are better than you.” Of course the animals rebuffed their statement and declared their superiority. Bear agrees to accept the Bat on his team with the following conditions: “We will accept you as an Animal, but you must hold back and let the bigger Animals play first.” I think that many times outsiders must work twice as hard to prove themselves in order to become accepted by the majority group.

STRENGTHS

The animals in the illustrations are not dressed as Native Americans. Therefore, they are not perpetuating a stereotype. The author includes a note at the beginning of the book before the story and explains that various versions of this story exist. He shares where this particular version of the story originated. An “Oklahoma Muskogee elder” shared the tale with the author, yet it was the author’s choice to make the game a stickball game.

d. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Carolyn Phelan (Booklist, September 15, 1994 (Vol. 91, No. 2))
In this Muskogee Indian tale, the birds argue with the beasts about which are better--those with teeth or those with wings. When the quarrel escalates to the brink of war, both sides agree to settle their disagreement on the playing field. The first side to score a point will set the other's punishment. The bat, who has wings as well as teeth, is initially spurned by both sides, then permitted to join the beasts. He scores the goal and banishes the birds for half the year. "So it is that the Birds fly south each winter. . . . And every day at dusk Bat still comes flying to see if the Animals need him to play ball." Roth's dynamic collages combine cut papers of varied textures and hues to create a series of effective illustrations. Short and well told, this appealing pourquoi tale lends itself to reading aloud.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, 1994)
How the bat found its niche in the animal kingdom and why birds fly south in winter are explained in this Muskogee tale, one of a dozen similar stories on the topic found in Native American lore. In this version, a disagreement has arisen between the birds and the animals. They take to the stickball field (stickball here is a Native American game similar to lacrosse) to resolve the affair. The bat is spurned by the birds as too small, but the animals take him in, if only as an alternate. As twilight settles over the playing field, the bat comes into his element and scores the winning goal. He then levies a penalty on the birds: They must leave that land for six months every year, while the bats stay home and rest. As an explanation for migration, this story has it all over the stellar-geo-electromagnetic theory currently in vogue. Roth's distinctive collages have a Red Grooms busyness ranging from bright and appealing to appropriately subtle, rendered from elegant handmade papers gathered in Tibet, Italy, Japan, and Thailand. There is one problem, though. Many bats don't stay home and rest. They migrate, too. Oops. 1994, Dial, $14.99; PLB $14.89. © 1994 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, 1994)
The Birds and the Animals decide to settle a disagreement with a stickball game, and the first side to score sets the losers' penalty. Bat, originally excluded from both teams, flies at dusk to help the Animals win. The Birds' penalty? They must leave for half of each year, which explains why birds fly south each winter. Artful cut- and torn-paper collages feature creatures juxtaposed against brilliantly colored or patterned backgrounds. Category: Nonfiction. 1994, Dial, 32pp.. Ages 5 to 9. Rating: 2: Superior, well above average.

e. CONNECTIONS

In order to learn more about the author and his published books, children may view his homepage: http://www.josephbruchac.com/.

Related books

Students could read the following book that includes another Muskogee tale.
Annesley,Robert. 1997. SPIDER SPINS A STORY: FOURTEEN LEGENDS FROM NATIVE AMERICA. edited by Jill Max. Flagstaff: Rising Moon. ISBN: 0873586115.

The next book provides another folktale that explains how the chipmunk came to have stripes.
Aruego, Jose and Ariane Dewey. 2001. HOW CHIPMUNK GOT HIS STRIPES: A TALE OF BRAGGING AND TEASING. as told by Joseph Bruchac & James Bruchac. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. ISBN: 0803724047.

Activities

Children could read about other folktales and legends that relate to specific Native American tribes. Children could try to write their own legend to explain an idea such as why is the sky blue.

Children’s responses

Since I had a book fair at school this week, I did not have a chance to read this story to students. My almost three year old liked the fact that the main characters were animals; however, she did not understand why the animals were fighting. She has not read a story that contained a plot with animals fighting. She thought the illustrations with the bear and bat with white ziz-zag teeth made the animals look scary.

JINGLE DANCER

Book Review

a. BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA

Hu, Ying-Hwa and Wright, Cornelius Van. 2000. JINGLE DANCER. by Cynthia L. Smith. New York : Morrow Junior Books. ISBN: 0688162428.

b. PLOT SUMMARY

As Jenna ate honey on fry bread, she dreamed about wearing a jingle dress and dancing in the powwow. The story shows how Jenna learned how to perform the jingle dance and how she obtained jingles for her jingle dress. Throughout the story, Jenna’s family supports and encourages her to complete her goal of creating a jingle dress and dancing the jingle dance in the powwow.

c. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

THEMES

The positive message of perseverance was shown through the theme of family closeness. Jenna practiced her jingle dancing even when she did not have a jingle dress to wear. “When Grandma bounce-stepped on TV, Jenna bounce-stepped on family room carpet.” Jenna’s family members shared some of their own jingles with Jenna so she would be able to perform in the powwow.

CULTURAL MARKERS

Fry bread and Indian taco are two foods that are mentioned in the story. The music of the jingles is described throughout the story. “Clattering tinks,” “jingles clanked,” and “jingles sang, tink, tink, tink, tink” are some of the sounds the jingles made. The characters have similar brown skin tones. Many of the women and young girls wear their long hair pulled back in a low pony tail or in a clip on top of their head. Jenna’s Grandma and Great Aunt Sis appear to have short hair. Some of the girls at the powwow wear two braids in their hair.

The facial expressions of the women in Jenna’s family are happy and kind. Both Jenna and her family members embrace frequently. The women wear different clothing such as suits, casual clothes, solid shirts and pants, jeans and printed blouses. In many of the rooms in their houses, a symbol of their culture can be found. Fry bread on Jenna’s plate, a basket on a table, a jingle dress hanging up on a door, moccasins, or a blanket with a Native American pattern can be seen in some of the rooms. The homes of Jenna’s family members are neat and uncluttered.

STRENGTHS

The author’s note in the back of the book provides additional knowledge about the heritage of the main character, Jenna. One paragraph provides a detailed explanation of the design of the jingle dress. The author does include a short glossary on the last page that defines the following words: fry bread, Indian taco, powwow, and regalia.

WEAKNESSES

I thought that the text was awkward when the story switched between narrating the time of day, “as Moon kissed Sun good night” and the main story of the little girl’s desire to perform the jingle dance at the powwow, “I want to dance the jingle dance too.” The modern day language, “every night that week,” clashes with the traditional language, “as moon glowed pale.” I felt as that the two stories were accidently mixed together.

PERSONAL OPINION

I was fascinated by the story of the jingle dressed, but the text irritated me as I mentioned in the previous section. The illustrations are beautiful: soft, warm, and inviting. After reading THE GREAT BALL GAME and understanding the story of the animals verse the birds, I do not think that having Great-aunt Sis briefly mention the tale added to the story of JINGLE DANCER. The first time I read this book was before I read THE GREAT BALL GAME. I did not really understand what the Great-aunt Sis was referring to with her tale about the bat. I do not think that the author’s note on the last page clarified the tale either.

d. REVIEW EXCERPTS

Connie Fletcher (Booklist, May 15, 2000 (Vol. 96, No. 18))
This contemporary Native American tale highlights the importance of family and community through a young girl's dream of joining the dancers at the next powwow. Jenna is a girl of Muscogee (Creek) and Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. She has practiced the steps for the jingle dance by following her grandmother's moves on a video. Now she must get enough jingles (traditionally made of tin, aluminum, or gold canning lids rolled into cones) to sew on her dress to make a satisfying "tink, tink" as she dances. The way Jenna gathers her jingles (borrowing enough to make a row, but not so many that the lender's dress will "lose its voice"), and her promise to dance for the women who cannot dance for themselves illustrate the importance of family and community ties. The colorful, well-executed watercolor illustrations lend warmth to the story. A note explaining Jenna's heritage and a brief glossary are appended. Category: For the Young. 2000, Morrow, $15.95 and $15.89. Ages 4-7.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2000 (Vol. 68, No. 8))
A contemporary Native American girl follows in her grandmother's footsteps (literally and figuratively), dancing the traditional jingle dance at the powwow. Jenna, a member of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma, dreams of dancing the jingle dance with the women of her tribe and is delighted when her grandmother tells her that she can dance with the other girls at the next powwow. But there is one problem-there won't be enough time to order the materials to make the four rows of jingles that are attached to the dress. If Jenna wants to hear the tink, tink, tink sound that the tin jingles make, she'll have to figure out a way to get the jingles on her own. Fortunately, Jenna is resourceful and knows just what to do. She visits great-aunt Sis, her friend Mrs. Scott, and cousin Elizabeth and borrows a row of jingles from each of them. (Jenna can only borrow one row of jingles apiece-otherwise each dress will lose its "voice.") While the problem of finding the jingles on her own doesn't seem challenging enough for the approbation Jenna receives at the end of the story for her resourcefulness, children will enjoy watching her figure out the solution to her problem. The watercolor illustrations clearly and realistically depict what is happening in the story. The layout of the book is straightforward-mostly double-page spreads that extend all the way to the edges of the paper. Jenna lives in what looks like a nice suburban house, the others seem solidly middle-class, and cousin Elizabeth is a lawyer. The author is deliberately showing us, it would seem, that all Native Americans are not poor or live on rundown reservations. A useful portrayal of an important cultural event in a Creek girl's year. (author's note, glossary) 2000, Harcourt Brace, $15.95. Category: Picture book. Ages 5 to 9. © 2000 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2000)
Jenna, who lives in a suburban Oklahoma neighborhood, is of Muscogee and Ojibway descent. She borrows jingles--metal cones--from four important women in her life, so that her jingle dress will have its own voice for her first powwow dance. Dance regalia and modern-day life are ably depicted in fluid watercolors. The text's folkloric style is sometimes at odds with the contemporary story. Glos. Category: Picture Books. 2000, Morrow, 32pp, $15.95, $15.89. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 4: Recommended, with minor flaws.

e. CONNECTIONS

Students may enjoy reading other books that incorporates a dance performed at a powwow.

Raczek, Linda Theresa. 1999. RAINY’S POWWOW. Flagstaff: Rising Moon/Books for Young Readers from Northland Publishing. ISBN: 0873586867.

Doney, Todd L.W. 1996. RED BIRD. By Barbara Mitchell. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Books. ISBN: 0688108601.

Activities

Students could investigate the Muscogee Nation and Ojibway. Student could also learn about other foods that members of these two different tribes eat. Students could compare the foods that Jenna’s tribe eats to food that they traditionally eat.

In order to learn more about the author and his published books, children may view her homepage: http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/.