Very well done; an important resource. (Nonfiction. 8-12)
In a follow-up to their acclaimed The Buffalo and the Indians (2006), Patent and Munoz discuss how the Plains Indians’ relationship with horses enriched them.
For a very long time, the Native American tribes living on the Western prairies relied on dogs pulling travois as their beasts of burden. They hunted buffalo on foot, a dangerous pursuit only possible when many people worked together. In the 16th century, Spanish explorers brought horses to the New World in order to dominate and frighten the Indians, but gradually, as the horses reproduced, escaped and spread, the Indians used horses to transform their world. Horses gave them power and freedom: They could carry much larger loads much faster than dogs. Better still, they could be used in battle. A single warrior on horseback could bring down a buffalo. A mounted raiding party could attack suddenly and retreat with equal swiftness. Horses transformed Indian art and spirituality as well, and, in fact, are still an important part of Plains Indian tribal culture. Patent's prose is, as always, clear and readable. Munoz's color photographs show the prairie and tribes as they exist today; in addition, the book uses black-and-white historic photographs that, while grainy, show the West the way it used to be.
Very well done; an important resource. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-12551-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 29, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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