Customer Reviews

A Boy Called Slow (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

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

 

 

I purchased this book for my Native American week in ourpreschool. It's noted on the site to be for ages 4 to 8 year olds.This is not the case. There are way too many words in this book. The pictures are extremely dark for preschoolers to even enjoy the photos. I recommend this book for ages 6 on up.

Please bear with me as I explain something. When I was an undergraduate in college I did an art project that looked at photographs and their titles. I was interested in the ways in which people will completely reassess their interpretation of a piece of art when they read its title. Many times, a person will completely bypass the art itself so as to see the title and be told what to think. In much the same way, I almost immediately flipped to the back cover of this book to read information about the author. It was as if I had to confirm or deny my suspicions before they'd even formed. As it happens, I was pleased to read that Joseph Bruchac was a Native American storyteller. Would I have enjoyed this books as much as I did had I not read this? I don't know. In any case, the book is lovely. The text is respectful and unhurried, choosing to develop the characters before launching into action. It does not revert to any cliches that I could discover, and the drawings are superb. They are sometimes dreamlike, sometimes evocative shots of people going about their lives, and sometimes tent drawings. I know that some have complained that this book has a bit of a *gotcha* ending, and I have to admit that I agree. It's a surprise ending that comes as no surprise at all. Nonetheless, the story tells well and I would unequivocally recommend it for storytelling to kids. It would pair well with other stories of great Native American heroes.

I used this book in my 5th grade class as part of our study of Native America. It was very popular with my students, and many of them reread it after I had read it aloud. The class learned new facts from the story and new vocabulary form the pictures.

When I first opened this book I had no clue the boy called slow was Sitting Bull. When I realized that after reading a few pages, I thought wow! That is so neat. I learned so much about the indian culture and how they came up with their names. I like this book a lot. I'm going to keep it for my children to read when I get older.

This story of a young Lakota boy named Slow is beautifully told by Joseph Bruchac. The telling respects Lakota and Native American people and traditions: the love of their culture comes out in the way the story is told. The young boy is given the name Slow because after his parents observe him, they notice that he does everything slowly. And although Slow wishes he weren't called Slow, he soon earns respect for the way he does things: his actions are seen as wise and deliberate. They are slow rather than rash. When he is fourteen years old, Slow goes with his father and other men on a war ride against the Crow, their "favorite enemies." Slow is a hero on that ride and earns a new name: Sitting Bull. This is a well-told story and a look at the early life of a famous American.

My class is studying Native American literature right now. This story was used as a read aloud and they absolutely loved it!!! Kept them engaged the whole time.

this is a great book to use in class for a biography lesson on sitting bull. it's also a great way to explore american indian naming practices.

We read this book for our book club, and rated it on the following items. What is shown is an average of our votes, 1 being the lowest and 5 being the highest:

Illustration quality -- 4

Information quality -- 3

Information quantity -- 2

Story quality -- 4

We decided that if we were going to write a paper or take a test having only read this book, we would not do very well, hence the low number to information quantity. Our favorite part was when Slow defeated the other tribe and earned his new name, Sitting Bull.

I thought this book was wonderful. It has great illustrations, and explains the story of sitting bull very well. I think it is a great resource for teaching about indian culture.