Customer Reviews

Malian's Song (Vermont Folklife Center Children's Book Series)

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

 

 

A Vermont Folklife Center Book written by Marge Bruchac and illustrated by William Maughan, Malians Song is far more than a children's picturebook - it preserves a piece of American and Native American history, as passed down through the oral storytelling traditions of the Abenaki Indians. Set near Montreal in the mid-18th century, as Major Robert Rogers prepares a murderous raid on the St. Frances Abenaki community, Malian's Song follows the experiences of a young girl whose life is about to be abruptly transformed through the impending violence. She escapes, along with many others, yet leaves behind friends and family, and copes with the drastic changes in her life by creating and singing the Loneliness Song. Except for a few minor details, Malian's Song is almost entirely based directly upon research and oral histories of Major Rogers' infamous massacre and the resulting fallout. Highly recommended.

The pictures in this book were fantastic, but the writing was dull and confusing. I'm not certain kids would be terribly into this book. There were some Abenaki terms that were not explained terribly well and a lot of kids would find this confusing.

It's too bad, because this is some good oral history and it is a rare look at the Native side of the Saint Francis raid, but really the book doesn't talk about the raid aside from saying that it was happening. Not a lot of detail for kids, and not as good as it could have been.

I was thinking this was a good children's book because other books from the same VT folk-life were great. However, this includes a lot of native-american words without a pronunciation guide and deals with what I believe to be a mature subject (the attack and destruction of a native village by white (non-native) forces). The treatment of the subject matter was not appropriate for my 3rd grader...but the pictures and story-line are such that older children just would not be interested in this book. too bad. I think they could have picked better subject matter for a VT folklife book on native american/Abenaki heritage.

This book is muddled in its story telling. But what I want to know is when the sequel will be written from the viewpoint of a settler child whose parents were murdered and scalped by Abenaki, and who was taken captive by them? And let's not forget the fate of the many brave Rangers on their return trip to Fort Number 4.