From: debbie ann reese <d-reese>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 1999 13:57:27 -0400

Eliza I'm at the office and can't post from there---the CCBC listserv doesn't recognize me from the ed bldg computers (just from my home one). Can you post this for me? Debbie

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I am particularly pleased to read Joseph Bruchac's stories that are set in modern times. Heart of a Chief is one, but I think the picture books are more critical in terms of providing children with both, the visual and the narrative, that Native Americans are a contemporary people.

Fox Song is about a little girl coping with the death of her grandmother. She stays in bed, with her eyes closed, thinking of her grandma. She remembers the things they did together. In those scenes, her grandma wears slacks and shoes (as reflects a modern day Native grandma), not traditional clothing. It is a beautiful story that children across cultures can identify with.

In another of his books - one he did with Gayle Ross (the milky way, perhaps?), the story starts out with the family in a modern day setting, with a grandparent telling a story. What a wonderful way to introduce
(to the reader) storytelling in a natural format, the presence of grandparents in the lives of today's Native families, and a traditional story as well!

There's a passage I recall from Eagle Song, where the father comes home and playfully calls his son "My son" or something like that---my copy is at home---and follows it with somehow addressing the idea that Native people speak in this way "My son" or "My daughter" instead of by name.

Debbie Reese
Received on Mon 18 Oct 1999 12:57:27 PM CDT