Doesn't Fall off His Horse: A Cherokee Tale

A thrilling adventure in the Oklahoma Territory of the 1890s is the true story of a Kiowa boy, his priceless quiver, and a daring raid--as told to his great-granddaughter, an acclaimed Native American artist.

Grade 1-4-Saygee visits her great-grandfather, who shows her one of his treasures, a leopard-skin quiver, and tells her of an adventure when the lucky quiver didn't help him "make a coup." (The concept of counting coup is explained). He and his young friends in his Kiowa band sneak out of camp and steal ponies from a nearby Comanche camp. The raid is successful, but the narrator is badly wounded from a rifle shot. Clinging to his pony and to the leads of two others, he makes it back home and unexpectedly recovers. Although the elders criticize the boys' bad judgment and foolishness, they praise their bravery and bestow an adult warrior name on the narrator-Doesn't Fall Off His Horse. The artist, a Cherokee, retells this incident from her adoptive Kiowa grandfather's childhood. Her paintings are slightly reminiscent of Paul Goble's linear, stylized, brightly colored art, but they are denser and more naturalistic, with less patterning, than his work. Stroud's palette is especially rich in blues. Although Native American picture books are proliferating, this one is notable for depicting children within their culture as both independent and accountable.
Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.