The Circle of Thanks - Hardcover

Bruchac, Joseph

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816740127 ISBN 13: 9780816740123

Publisher: Troll Communications Llc, 1996

Synopsis

Fourteen poems with themes of thanksgiving and appreciation of nature, based in part on traditional Native American songs and prayers.

About this title

Reviews

Bruchac (Children of the Longhouse, p. 685, etc.) gathers 14 traditional Native American poems of appreciation and respect for nature's gifts. It is a wide sampling, drawn from Cherokee (thanks for medicine plants), Kwakiutl (a prayer for cedar roots), Pawnee (a nod to the stars that guide), and Navajo (an exultation of thunder) traditions. From the Mohawk comes the warm ``Thanks to Mother Earth,'' who is ``there to catch us/if we should fall''; from the Papago, the wonderful ``Song for the Corn,'' which asks, ``Am I corn of two colors,/am I crazy corn,/singing in the wind?'' This excellent collection inspires celebration and thanksgiving for all meaningful things in life. Jacob's stylized illustrations are an eyeful, smartly situating each of the native people in their respective landscapes. (Picture book/poetry. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 1^-5. Readers hungry for more material with roots in traditional Native American songs and prayers may want to give thanks for this book. Bruchac has created 13 brief, original poems, "based in part on traditional Native American songs and prayers," that can function as chants, prayers, or songs (although no musical notation is included). Native American groups, ranging from the Mohawk of the eastern woodlands and the Kwakiutl of the Northwest Coast to the Osage of the Great Plains are represented. Jacob's illustrations are reminiscent of those he created for Gayle Ross' How Rabbit Tricked Otter (1994). Here, the text is placed in small boxed insets on double-page spreads, with the pictures revealing much of cultural significance. More about each group's culture is provided in appended notes, and sources are acknowledged. Karen Morgan

Edition details

• Publisher: Troll Communications Llc
• Publication date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0816740127
• ISBN 13: 9780816740123
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Jacob Murv
• Number of pages: 32