Dancing Teepees

A selection of native American poems stemming from the oral tradition incorporates contemporary tribal poetry and poems of the elders--all of which focus on the theme of youth from birth through adolescence

Stephen Gammell (b. February 10, 1943) is an American illustrator of children's books. His awards include the Caldecott Medal. Stephen Gammell grew up in Iowa. His father, an art editor for a major magazine, brought home periodicals that gave Stephen early artistic inspiration. His parents also supplied him with lots of pencils, paper, and encouragement. He is self-taught. He started his career with commercial freelance work, but became interested in children's book illustration. His first book, A Nutty Business, was published in 1973. Since then, he has illustrated over fifty titles. He is particularly well-known for the surreal, unsettling illustrations he provided for Alvin Schwartz's Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series of horror short stories, still a favorite in adolescent fiction. Stephen and his wife, Linda, a photographer, live in St. Paul, Minnesota. He works daily in his studio, located over a restaurant.

Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve spent her childhood on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation and now lives with her husband in Rapid City, South Dakota. She is the anthologist of the highly acclaimed poetry book, Dancing Teepees : Poems of American Indian Youth, illustrated by Stephen Gammell. The mother of three grown children, Ms. Sneve works as a high school counselor and teaches English at Oglala Lakota College, Rapid City Extension.