Customer Reviews

The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story

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4 star:		(1)
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I love this book both for it's great story and because it is a terrific resource for teachers. It's one of those books (like Where the Wild Things Are or Runaway Bunny) that just grabs kids up and speaks directly to things they are deeply connected to. In this case: inequity, anger and how to deal with those feelings.

If you are a teacher (or parent) and want a book that addresses these issues witout being overly complicated or inauthentic - run, don't walk and buy this wonderful book!

This Cheyenne tale is a great lesson about how words of anger hurt and about forgiveness. Also a nature pour-quoi tale! Can be shared easily with very young, important message for older boys and girls as well as adults. After reading this, eating strawberries will be just a little sweeter!

This beautifully illustrated lyrical book is very special. It's story of thoughtless words, anger and forgiveness is told simply, but powerfully. It is a lesson both adults and children can hear over and over. The lush watercolor illustrations are breathtaking. I buy this book as a wedding present, and read it on the last day of classes that I teach, and think of it whenever I bite into a ripe, sweet strawberry.

A wonderful story that teaches a timeless lesson. Everyone married or yearning to be should read it. Now I always get strawberries to follow-up an arguement.

this is the legend of how the first strawberries came into being, and it's kind of nice because it's a love story. i'm going to summarize it so if you don't want to know skip over.

one day a husband comes home from hunting to find his wife picking flowers instead of cooking. he angrily reprimands her for this and she indignantly walks off. the husband immediately feels sorry for getting so angry and tries to catch up to his wife to apologize but she's too fast for him so he asks the sun to slow her down. the sun shines itself on various berries but the wife is too angry to see them so the sun makes strawberries right on the ground so the wife would see them, and voila the first strawberries. the wife sees them and thinks to herself that it would be nice to share these with her husband so stops to pick some. the husband catches up to her and they live happily ever after.

it was a nice story. i enjoyed it.

This book means a lot to me personally. It is a sweet tale about a husband and wife.

"The First Strawberries" is a retelling of a Cherokee folktale by renowned Native American author Joseph Bruchac. The story is written in sparse language, simple and unadorned yet the message comes across clearly. The Creator makes a man and a woman who marry and live happily together for a number of years. One day, the couple quarrel and the wife walks away in anger, hurt by her husband's harsh words. The man repents yet is unable to catch up to his wife who gets further away. Luckily, the sun takes pity on the man and tries his best to reunite the couple. The manner by which the sun reunites the couple is unique, i.e. by sending down berries to the earth.

The sparse language effectively conveys the themes of hurt, anger, estrangement, and reconciliation. The illustrations by Anna Vojtech are in soft and calming hues, perfectly capturing the beauty of the natural surroundings and evoking the close affinity shared between Native Americans and nature. Meaningful and beautiful, this is a book that mesmerizes in its simplicity.

My twin 2 year old girls absolutely love this book. Beautiful story and pictures to go with it. I actually think adults should read it as well, it has such a wonderful message about forgiveness.

This is a nice story for children who are studying the Cherokee people. As a long-time teacher of literature, I am always inclined to encourage children to link what they are reading with other literature in their experience.
"The First Strawberries" is a lovely story of the first two people created by the Supreme Being "Yowa" from the Cherokee heritage. Not only is it a very fitting story of how these two come to cherish one another, but it is also very nice for comparison with the Biblical account of the first two people created by God. A child as young as second grade can easily make the connection. This little story embodies what makes for good children's literature: a well written story with a moral, but without a didactic approach. It allows the child to discern for himself with what he brings to the experience.

Anger, forgiveness and sweet strawberries - what do they have in common? They are all elements of the wonderful Cherokee story retold by Joseph Bruchac. I love his books! This story of friendship and respect is not lost on the young nor the old who read or hear it. Anna Vojtech's illustrations are beautiful and dreamy and fit beautifully with the words. I think it is a great springboard for explaining to children the concepts of quarreling and reconciliation in relationships.