The Great Ball Game: A Muskogee Story - Hardcover

Bruchac, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803715390 ISBN 13: 9780803715394

Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers, 1994

Synopsis

Bat, who has both wings and teeth, plays an important part in a game between the Birds and the Animals to decide which group is better

About this title

About the Author

Joseph Bruchac is a highly acclaimed children's book author, poet, novelist and storyteller, as well as a scholar of Native American culture. Coauthor with Michael Caduto of the bestselling Keepers of the Earth series, Bruchac's poems, articles and stories have appeared in hundreds of publications, from Akwesasne Notes and American Poetry Review to National Geographic and Parabola. He has authored many books for adults and children including Code Talker: A Novel About the Navajo Marines of World War Two, Skeleton Man, and The Heart of a Chief. For more information about Joseph, please visit his website www.josephbruchac.com.

Reviews

Kindergarten-Grade 3-In this traditional Muskogee story, the birds and the animals quarrel over which group is better, those with wings or those with teeth. The argument threatens to turn into all-out war, so the creatures decide to settle it by playing a ball game instead. When the game (which resembles lacrosse) starts, no one wants little, weak Bat to play on their side. But in the end it is Bat-with both teeth and wings-who wins the match for the animals. As a result the birds are banished to the south each winter. This porquoi tale is told in clean, spare sentences with the emphasis on action and character. In a foreword, Bruchac briefly discusses ball games in traditional Native American life, including the role of sports in conflict management. He mentions two other written versions of the story, as well as Louis Littlecoon Oliver's, which he cites as his source. Unfortunately, the cut-and-torn paper illustrations are too crudely done to convey character or provide details that would have enriched the book. The helter-skelter compositions distract readers from what is otherwise an entertaining tale.
Carolyn Polese, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This adaptation of a popular Native American story pits Animals against Birds in a contest to settle an all-too-human question: Who's better? Here, it's the teeth versus the wings in stickball, a lacrosse-style game in which the players hold a stick in each hand. When the contestants take their sides, the anomalous Bat, who sports both teeth and wings, is rejected by both teams. Finally, Bear shows sympathy, saying, "You are not very big, but sometimes even the small ones can help." Bat is benched, however, until the Animals catch on to the Birds' obvious advantage: with ball in beak, the Birds fly high above the playing field. But as evening darkness descends, Bat flies into gear to win the game with his elusive, darting aerobatics. As the victor, Bat decrees that the Birds must leave for half the year. And, according to Muskogee legend, this resolution explains why bats are categorized as animals and why birds fly south for the winter. With clear, minimal language, Bruchac (see The Girl Who Married the Moon, reviewed below) wisely lets the myth carry itself. While the three-dimensional effect of Roth's (Fire Came to the Earth People) textured paper collages is striking and initially intriguing, the illustrations do not much embellish the sparely told story. But in its call for an athletic game to settle a dispute-and thereby avoid fighting-the book handily inverts the Greco-Roman tradition of sport as training for war. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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-electro-magnetic 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. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Ages 4-8. 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. Carolyn Phelan

Edition details

• Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0803715390
• ISBN 13: 9780803715394
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Roth Susan L.
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32