Overarching Book Review

As a collection of books that all present a depiction of Native American culture, I considered them to be fascinating, precise, and unique. While I found similarities and connections between each book, they were also very different. To begin with, two out of the three books were part of the series Tales of the People. This series was created to celebrate Native American culture and demonstrates authenticity by employing Native American authors and illustrators to share their stories. While the first book, Brave Wolf and the Thunderbird is a rendition of a tale from the Crow tribe and Coyote in Love with a Star is an interpretation of a legend from the Prairie Band Potawatomi there are many similarities. Each story has an interesting writing style and plot that involve animals with distinctive characteristics that teach the audience about the world around us. The third book, while much more realistic, also focused around learning about the earth and they ways of Native American culture.

Overall, this selection of books allowed me gain much insight into understanding the values of Native Americans. The selected texts provided information about what is valued in the culture and how they reveal their cultural beliefs. Through the illustrations, I was able to better understand the texts and construct an overarching view of the books. In the end, I would employ these texts within my classroom. While I may not focus solely on the books, I would have them available for the children to read.