Synopses & Reviews
Notable Books for Children, Smithsonian Skipping Stones Book Award for Exceptional Multicultural and Nature/Ecology Books Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year ?...one of my favorite books for young readers, not just for the beautiful illustrations which avoid stereotypes while portraying northeast Native reality, but for its poetic, memorable text. No children's writer I know has done a better job of putting our traditions into the context of modern times while also dealing with the issue of mixed-blood ancestry in a way that is both honest and heart-lifting. ?Joseph Bruchac, author of Raccoon's Last Race, Jim Thorpe's Bright Path, and many other books This is a quiet tale of a Native American girl who, with gentle guidance from her grandfather, learns to find strength, not fear, in her identity as a Native person living in an Anglo society. Beautifully illustrated and complete with a Seneca creation story, Muskrat Will Be Swimming demonstrates how the ancient stories of Native Amer
Synopsis
*Notable Books For Children - Smithsonian*
*Skipping Stones Book Award for Exceptional Multicultural and Nature/Ecology Books*
*Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year (Prose - Children's Literature)*
*Wordcraft Circle Mentor of the Year*
Although Jeannie loves her lakeside neighborhood, her feelings are hurt by her schoolmates who live in fancier homes and call her a Lake Rat.
Synopsis
When she confides her troubles to her grandfather, he tells her about his own childhood experiences with teasing. As the story unfolds, the grandfather shares a traditional Seneca story that helps Jeannie to find strength in her Native identity and a new appreciation for the different roles that animals play in nature. This is a quiet book that celebrates family and place and the teachings of Native people. Muskrat Will Be Swimming is based on a real incident in Cheryl Savageau's life.
Muskrat Will Be Swimming will help inspire classroom conversations about:
- Teasing and bullying
- Storytelling traditions and customs in Native and non-Native families
- The Seneca creation story and creation stories in general
- Traditions of the Sky Woman in Native stories
- Contemporary Native American families and building connections to tribal identity
- Native identity and mixed-blood ancestry
- Significance of dreams in Native culture
- The role of animals as teachers in Abenaki culture
- Animals of the forest
- The Abenaki view towards the natural environment
- The value of experiences in the natural world for children's growth
F&P Text Level R