The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Books) [Paperback]

Paul Goble (Author)

Book Description

Series: Reading Rainbow Books

A brave boy goes into the hills and prays for help for his people. A rider on a magnificent animal comes to him and says: "This animal is called the Sacred Dog. He can do many things your dogs can do and also more...He is as the wind: gentle but sometimes frightening." The clouds close and suddenly one by one countless Sacred Dogs course down from the sky. And so the courage of one determined boy is rewarded by the Great Spirit: The horse, or Sacred Dog, is given to his tribe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (October 1, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0020432801
• ISBN-13: 978-0020432807
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #61,216 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #15 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > People & Places > Multicultural Stories > Native North & South Americans
  • #21 in Books > Children's Books > Travel & Cultures > Multicultural Stories > Native North & South Americans
  • #96 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Literature > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > Stories

More About the Author

Paul Goble is an award winning author and illustrator of children's books. He has won both the Caldecott Medal and The Library of Congress' Children's Book of the Year Award. To date, Mr. Goble has illustrated over 30 books. He has given his entire collection of original illustrations to the South Dakota Art Museum in Brookings, South Dakota.

Goble, a native of England, studied at the Central School of Art in London. He has lived in the United States since 1977 and became a citizen in 1984. Goble's life-long fascination with Native Americans of the plains began during his childhood when he became intrigued with their spirituality and culture. His illustrations accurately depict Native American clothing, customs and surroundings in brilliant color and detail. Goble researches ancient stories and retells them for his young audiences in a manner sympathetic to Native American ways. Goble lives with his wife in Rapid City, SD.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully illustrated Native American tale., August 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Books) (Paperback)

Children and adults will enjoy the colorful illustrations and tale of how the Native Americans acquired the horse. Lovely!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entirely Beautiful, July 31, 2011

By 

greenfinch94 (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Books) (Paperback)

I want to state outright that I bought this book around twenty years ago with my allowance money when I was a young child (no more than seven). I still have it, and all those years have adored it so much that I've kept it in mint condition.

For those of you with children, that should tell you how much I loved it as a child- it's not even gotten dirty, even though I read it often.

Now that I'm older and work with children, I share the book with them, and get a great response from basically all age groups. For very young people, the bright, highly-stylized images are exciting and eye-catching. The pictures leave nothing to be desired- their detail is exquisite, and many a little one has been happy to help me find a bird or chipmunk 'hiding' somewhere in the pictures.

For older children, I use this in conjunction with Native American studies. They are interested in the story, and often mull over calling a 'horse' a 'sacred dog'.

I'm getting ahead of myself. The story is about a young man who goes and asks the Great Spirit for help when his tribe can not find/keep up with the buffalo, resulting in great hunger. The Great Spirit gives him the 'gift of the sacred dog', being horses, so that they can catch the buffalo. The people are then able to hunt, thank the buffalo and Great Spirit, and the book is over.

Now, back to my young'ns. Not only are they pleased with the story (somehow not too long or short for any age group), and the illustrations (beautiful, with just the right amount of words on a page), but they're also happy to talk about the story, which is what story time is really about for us. It's an easy story to ask questions on, and get to know the children- what they're thinking, feeling, what they believe in and don't, etc. When they don't feel like talking, I can easily point out all the colors and styles of horses in the book (some are even purple or green, among what you'd normally expect, and some are clearly showing emotion) and have the kids make pictures of what they'd like their horse to look like if they were part of the tribe. You wouldn't believe how much you can learn about a child doing that simple exercise.

For one-on-one bedtime stories, this has proven to be a good one in helping four pre-school-age children learn to read. The book seems to feel comfortable for them, and the language is not too hard to start them reading to me.

Overall, a beautiful heirloom book that I plan to pass through the family as long as I'm around. I also have THE GIRL WHO LOVED WILD HORSES, and the same applies to it.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great, March 14, 2006

By 

Kat (Oregon, US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Reading Rainbow Books) (Paperback)

I loved this book when I was little, and I still love it now. It's great to see that it's still around. It's a wonderful story with even better illustrations for children and adults.