Customer Reviews

Brother Eagle, Sister Sky: A Message from Chief Seattle (Picture Puffins)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Readers of this very popular work should know that it is not what it pretends. Chief Seattle's "speech" as presented by Jeffers is forgery, the real chief Sealth never said anything of the kind. The speech presented here was forged in the 1970s by a Hollywood script writer, and was further altered by Jeffers herself. This book is an insulting white stereotype of real Indians, much like "Dances With Wolves." Even Jeffers' drawings are lies, based on photographs of Plains Indians who in no way resemble the real chief Sealth, who was a portly little fellow. Books like this one do a grave injustice to Native Americans.

This book was gifted to a classroom of elementary school children. They loved it, we did an entire story time on it, discussed the relationship of people with nature, and if we could put a price tag on the earth and its bounties. It taught the children the importance of our surrounding, our community and how we connect to our world at large, with love, respect and all the good things that we cherish every day. This is a wonderful book to gift, receive, and read time and time again. Beautiful pictures.

Lets see... Betsy Ross did not make the first flag.

...George Washington may or may not have
a) chopped down a cherry tree,
b)thrown a coin across a river,
c) been a great leader.

...George Bush may or may not have told a lie about Iraq.
...All computer programmers may or may not have souls the size of a mouse's.

What do you teach your children?

I cannot believe people are squabbling over whether Chief S* (*for those who may or may not want to use the Anglicized name) in fact said something like or unlike the lovely verse in this book.

This book is for young children. If you are interested in presenting profound and beautiful words to your kids along with interesting pictures, both of which might very well incite conversation BUY THIS BOOK. If you want guaranteed facts, read them the newspaper. No Wait. That won't do either. Then read them MCSE Guides and Cram Course material. Raise children who think XP is a good idea.

Really folks, get a life and remember the target market for this book is not historians. REMEMBER that to a 4 to 8 year old you CANNOT subtract a larger number from a smaller one.

Heck, I read my children books about talking mice. This is a lovely book. Five Stars.

Text aside, Susan Jeffer's book on Chief Seattle has inaccurate illustrations of historic Northwest Coast tribal costume, dwellings and landscape. I also use this book with my third graders every year - but only to show the kids how some authors have not done adequate research before publishing. There are other great children's books on the subject from lesser known authors and smaller publishers. It may be worth your while to look them up.

This is a wonderful, heartfelt story that will present new perspectives on customary ways of perceiving our world. It exposes the boundaries our worldviews are often limited to with regard to authoritarianism and concepts of property, in a way children can understand and find challenging. Unfortunately such perspectives can undermine the status-quo and thus many find them threatening, which explains the many slanderous customer reviews here on Amazon. After doing a little research, I found that the speech presented here has been passed down in several translations and has been added to by various parties over the years, as is the nature of much of history, not that it was "written in the 70's by a Hollywood script writer," etc. There is no reason to believe the central ideas haven't survived. It's disturbing to find the reviewers crying the loudest about this book "teaching lies to children," etc. contain the most blatant lies in their reviews--a lesson in itself. Their histrionics are merely a testament to the power of the ideas expressed in this book.

THIS IS A GREAT BOOK FOR KIDS AND, ADULTS WHO KNOW LITTE ABOUT, CHIEF SEATTLE. NICELY ILLUSTRATED, TOO!!

I wrote my review before reading other reviews here on Amazon. After reading reviews questioning the authenticity of the content of this book, I did an Internet search for factual information. A source at the National Archives and Records Association of the USA shows an article by Jerry Clark, which contains information to support the text of this picture book by Susan Jeffers. That article is footnoted with references to source material. There is apparently a huge debate over the authenticity of what Chief Seattle did or did not say. Because I found information to support the content of this book, I will go ahead and do a review and grant it 5 stars for the eloquent text and beautiful illustrations.

Text is based on an adaptation of a speech made by Native American Chief Seattle to the new Commissioner of Indian Affairs, during negotiations between the white settlers and the Suquamish and Duwanish tribes in the 1850s. The speech tells of the views held by the ancient peoples, such as humans cannot own land or air or water. The sacredness of the earth and all of its' inhabitants is explained. The connectedness of the human Native Americans to the Earth is eloquently described. This speech is a plea that if they sell the land to the white men, that the land and animals not be ruined. This message is thought to be the first plea and a forewarning of ecology, as Chief Seattle pleas that the land be preserved for the enjoyment of future generations.

The first and last pages (an unlabeled introduction and an unlabeled afterward) are factual and historical explanations to explain the body of the text. The text itself is a wonderful and poetically written explanation of the views of the Native Americans. If one wishes to explain these beliefs to a child without getting into the historical elements, simply skip the introduction and the afterward, which may be recommended for reading to the very young who are not yet ready to grasp historical facts and concepts. (My three year old was enthralled with this book, and I think even a two year old would be interested in the main text.)

The illustrations are stunning and detailed and are difficult to describe. Very high quality writing and gorgeous illustrations, not to be missed!

All those who are applauding Jeffers for her misguided protrayal of Chief Si'ahl's words should rethink what you are proclaiming. I would be enraged -- as you would -- if I were blatantly misquoted. Perhaps you should be sensitve enough to check out how Native Americans feel about this book on www.oyate.org -- or -- clear your facts by reading the website posted by his own people www.duwamishtribe.org. We are doing our children an injustice by continuing to pass on misconceptions as history. I would perfer to give this a 0 star rating but since that was not an option -- I guess the pictures are attractive -- even though the drawing of Chief Si'ahl are actually an exact copy of the Cheyenne Two Moons -- try googling it and you'll see. Oh -- did you notice that the ghost on the last page is carrying a empty cradleboard? I find that appalling.

This is a big lie from a man who is not native american himself. Buyers beware of what you are teaching your kids. Although the illustructions are bueatiful, they are steriotypes of the native american historical culture, and even the words are created by the white man, Jeffers. If you want to learn more about this book and in what ways it is incorrectly potraying its people, please visit the following link:

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Everything you will find in this book is [fiction]. While the artistic quality of the illustrations is remarkable, the content has no connection with historical reality. Chief Seattle never left the Puget Sound in his entire life. He never saw a living buffalo, much less the slaughter of buffalo herds. And, most importantly, he never said anything remotely resembling the message in this book. In fact, he was nothing like the gentle environmentalist depicted by Jeffers:...he never made the famous speech upon which this book is based. The actual speech was written in the 1970s by an environmental apologist, originally for a screen play. It is incredible that anyone would pass this off on their children. No matter how strongly you feel about the need to protect the environment, you have a duty to your children to communicate such ideas without resorting to this form of [rewriting history].