A mare for young wolf. Shefelman, Janice (author). Shefelman, Tom (illustrator). (1993). New York, NY: Random House Publishing. 48 pages. ISBN: 0-679-83445-1.
Fiction: Historical: Ages 6 to 9
Setting:
The setting for this story is in an Indian village on the Great Plains. It is difficult to narrow it down any further since the author never mentions specifically what tribe to which Young Wolf belongs. The only clue is that they are enemies of the Apache people. Seeing that they have teepees and war ponies, it leads me to conclude this is a plains tribe.
The setting for this story is in an Indian village on the Great Plains. It is difficult to narrow it down any further since the author never mentions specifically what tribe to which Young Wolf belongs. The only clue is that they are enemies of the Apache people. Seeing that they have teepees and war ponies, it leads me to conclude this is a plains tribe.
Plot:
Young Wolf, is given his first pony by his father as sign of his impending manhood and ability to start going on hunts and raids. He is teased by his peers when he chooses a mare for his first horse as opposed to a stallion. Some people in his tribe believe that a mare will not make a good war pony, and that they are for women and children. Young Wolf has a special relationship with the horses in his village, and feels a bond to this horse in particular, because she listens when he talks. His Grandfather teaches him to ride the horse, and to hold his temper when Young Wolf wants to retaliate against the boys who are teasing him. When his horse saves the day, and keeps the village from being the victim of a raid on their horses, everyone accepts Young Wolf's decision. The story is engaging, and kids will easily relate to Young Wolf and his struggles and frustrations with Big Mouth who is, of course, aptly named. The characters are very typical in stories based on Native American stories. The mother is very demure as her name, Voice of the Sunrise, suggests. The father, Eagle Feather, is stern and no nonsense. The Grandfather is the teacher, and voice of reason to his young grandson. He is full of wisdom and advice. There are countless books on Native Americans that follow this formula.
Young Wolf, is given his first pony by his father as sign of his impending manhood and ability to start going on hunts and raids. He is teased by his peers when he chooses a mare for his first horse as opposed to a stallion. Some people in his tribe believe that a mare will not make a good war pony, and that they are for women and children. Young Wolf has a special relationship with the horses in his village, and feels a bond to this horse in particular, because she listens when he talks. His Grandfather teaches him to ride the horse, and to hold his temper when Young Wolf wants to retaliate against the boys who are teasing him. When his horse saves the day, and keeps the village from being the victim of a raid on their horses, everyone accepts Young Wolf's decision. The story is engaging, and kids will easily relate to Young Wolf and his struggles and frustrations with Big Mouth who is, of course, aptly named. The characters are very typical in stories based on Native American stories. The mother is very demure as her name, Voice of the Sunrise, suggests. The father, Eagle Feather, is stern and no nonsense. The Grandfather is the teacher, and voice of reason to his young grandson. He is full of wisdom and advice. There are countless books on Native Americans that follow this formula.
Author/Illustrator:
The author and illustrator are a husband and wife team. They have since written and illustrated two more titles in the Little Wolf series, along with a chapter book for older readers. The illustrations are large, mostly full or half pages. They are well done and compliment the story nicely. The duo collaborates on all aspects of a story as they are working on it, and the elements feel very cohesive. Seeing that there were no reviews of the book that could be found, the website Integrating New Technologies into the Methods of Education (INTIME) was used. Specifically, the section entitled Evaluating Children's Books for Bias. This section encourages reviewers to look into the author's and illustrator's background as to their qualifications to write stories based on other cultures. "There has been considerable debate recently regarding what has been termed cultural thievery. Is it ethical for mainstream writers to appropriate the literature of parallel cultures? Many people think it is impossible to write authentically from a perspective one has never experienced personally. People who have been silenced in the past do not take kindly to someone else trying to tell their story now that those stories are finally being recognized as significant."
The author and illustrator are a husband and wife team. They have since written and illustrated two more titles in the Little Wolf series, along with a chapter book for older readers. The illustrations are large, mostly full or half pages. They are well done and compliment the story nicely. The duo collaborates on all aspects of a story as they are working on it, and the elements feel very cohesive. Seeing that there were no reviews of the book that could be found, the website Integrating New Technologies into the Methods of Education (INTIME) was used. Specifically, the section entitled Evaluating Children's Books for Bias. This section encourages reviewers to look into the author's and illustrator's background as to their qualifications to write stories based on other cultures. "There has been considerable debate recently regarding what has been termed cultural thievery. Is it ethical for mainstream writers to appropriate the literature of parallel cultures? Many people think it is impossible to write authentically from a perspective one has never experienced personally. People who have been silenced in the past do not take kindly to someone else trying to tell their story now that those stories are finally being recognized as significant."
Classroom Tie-ins:
Students could be encouraged to write their own short story about an experience they have had where they had to follow their heart, or were teased by others because of some way they are different. This could also be tied in to a unit on Native Americans, although the story is so vague on details. According to the PBS Chidlhood Development Tracker, when children learn new information "they try to connect the new information they learn to what they already know about a topic." This book could provide background information on which students could build their knowledge of Native Americans.
Students could be encouraged to write their own short story about an experience they have had where they had to follow their heart, or were teased by others because of some way they are different. This could also be tied in to a unit on Native Americans, although the story is so vague on details. According to the PBS Chidlhood Development Tracker, when children learn new information "they try to connect the new information they learn to what they already know about a topic." This book could provide background information on which students could build their knowledge of Native Americans.
Personal Response:
In order for me to recommend this book, or use it a classroom, I would need more details, such as what tribe is Young Wolf? I would want to give my students background and discuss the historical aspects of the tribe before I introduced them to the story. In reading the story, I definitely felt it was written from an outsider's perspective, and was kept vague and borderline stereotypical due to a lack of real knowledge of tribes.
In order for me to recommend this book, or use it a classroom, I would need more details, such as what tribe is Young Wolf? I would want to give my students background and discuss the historical aspects of the tribe before I introduced them to the story. In reading the story, I definitely felt it was written from an outsider's perspective, and was kept vague and borderline stereotypical due to a lack of real knowledge of tribes.
Resources:
Integrating New Technologies in to the Methods of Education (2002). Evaluating Children's Books for Bias. Retrieved from:
http://www.intime.uni.edu/multiculture/curriculum/children.htm
Public Broadcasting Service [PBS]. (2013). Child development tracker. Retrieved from:
http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/reading-language/reading-milestones/second-and-third-grader-language-development-milestones/second-and-third-graders-listening/
No comments:
Post a Comment