INDIAN SUMMER

by F. N. Monjo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1968

Owls, or Indians signaling like owls? Owls and Indians, and the Indians aren't friendly. In their frontier cabin, Ma and the boys stand guard while the girls melt lead to mold bullets (Pa is away with General Washington). When one Indian tries to get down the chimney. Ma throws goosefeathers from her quilt on the fire, smoking the Indian out. He escapes into the woods, and so do two others as Ma and Matt miss with their rifles. The next morning men come from the fort and insist that the family take refuge: ""Those Indians were after your scalps. They will be back."" Surrounded by settlers in the fort. Ma and the children are applauded: their father will be ""mighty proud"" of them. It's not the benign image of the Indians that started as a corrective and became a cure--all, and the likely motivation of these particular indians as allies of the British is relegated to the afterword (as is the explanation of the term ""Indian summer""), but Indians did go on the warpath at least as often as they smoked the peace pipe, and who can quarrel with history? Not An I CAN READ History Book that kids will read like a house afire.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harper & Row

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1968

Categories: CHILDREN'S