Customer Reviews

Legends of the Seminoles

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Legends of the Seminoles is a book about legends that uses myth to explain natural events or explain a moral. The stories are interesting and the setting is clearly Florida. I am using the book to help explain the Seminole culture to my Grandchildren as part of their Florida Studies program. I would highly recommend this book to other children. Great book.

A week before Betty Mae Jumper died, I had just finished reading her biography. That book mentioned that she had collected these tales, so I knew I had to read it. Legends of the Seminoles is filled with short stories that try to explain our natural world. The stories are accompanied by vivid pictures painted by Florida artist Guy Labree, and they will be enjoyed by young and old alike. This would be a great book to use for children's bedtime stories, as you could read just one or two of the short narratives at a time. Some like "The Hunter and the Beautiful Girl" are a little bit scary for young children, some tales are humorous, but many stories have a moral or lesson in them. As a native South Floridian, I am familiar with all the animals and landscapes she describes, so I was especially entertained. I found it interesting to compare the tales handed down by the Seminoles to similarly themed stories handed down by my Irish/German ancestors.