Customer Reviews

Iktomi and the Boulder

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"Iktomi and the Boulder" is the first in a series of stories about the trickster of the Lakota retold and illustrated by Paul Goble. Iktomi (pronounced "eek-toe-me") is the hero, so to speak, of a series of humorous stories. The trickster is a universal character in North American myths and legends, known by different names in different parts of the country. The common denominator is that Iktomi is always trying to get the better of others, but usually ends up being the one who looks foolish.

In this first story Iktomi is out walking along dressed in his best clothes, so that he looks like a real chief. The problem is that as he continues on his long walk under the hot sun Iktomi starts to wish that he had not put on so many clothes. While resting in the shade of a great boulder he comes up with the idea of leaving his blanket on top of the boulder so he does not have to carry it any farther. But he tells the blanket he is doing this so that the blanket can help the boulder keep the hot sun off of him. This sounds like generosity on Iktomi's part, but as soon he notices a storm cloud is coming he wants the blanket back. The thing is, the boulder is not happy with Iktomi taking back what he has given, and he goes after our hero. Who can possibly help Iktomi against an angry boulder?

Young readers will enjoy the ways in which Iktomi proves to be too clever for his own good. In story after story Iktomi proves himself to be a mischief maker who I always up to no good and getting himself into trouble. There are older stories about Iktomi in which the Creator entrusts him with those aspects of the Creation that people seem to be mistakes, such as earthquakes, floods, disease, flies, and, of course, mosquitoes. But Goble is focusing on those that make a point about Iktomi's behavior, even if the moral is never explicitly stated.

Goble does a couple of new things with this series of books that are different from his other retelling of Native American tales. Throughout the book Iktomi's thoughts are printed in small type and the text sometimes changes to italics so that the reader can let their listeners make comments about what Iktomi is doing. Goble usually asks a question that puts Iktomi's actions in a different light or point out his, um, inconsistencies (e.g., animals are almost always laughing at Iktomi). Goble actually wants listeners to make rude remarks about Iktomi, to really get into the spirit of the story. He also points out that at some point the storyteller should lift their forefinger for silence so that they can go on with the story.