Maria Montoya Martinez: Master Potter [Hardcover]

Elsie Kreischer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 1995 | Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

At age ten, MarÌa Montoya MartÌnez was stricken with smallpox. Near death, she lay limply in her mother's arms, unable even to swallow the herbal teas offered her. All the attempts to revive her seemed to have failed. Trying one last remedy, her aunt and mother filled the hearth with thick green cedar boughs and smoked the room, waving the fumes towards the sick little girl. MarÌa's mother desperately prayed to Santo NiÒo, the children's saint, promising that if MarÌa lived, she would send her on a pilgrimage to see him. MarÌa lived to make the pilgrimage and enjoy a long life. But she was forever marked by this event. MarÌa's pilgrimage to the Santuario in Chimayo, New Mexico, becomes a symbol of her life. It is a journey towards humility, hard work, and perfection. She feels special since she was favored to live. And so she constantly strives to create the most worthy pots she can, always keeping in mind Old Grandmother's prowess with clay. The clay connects her to the earth, and the clay links her to her future husband, Juli n, who becomes a painter of her pots. Throughout the years, she is blessed and blesses her whole pueblo with money and, more importantly, love. MarÌa Montoya MartÌnez: Master Potter is the biography of a very sick little girl who grew to be a strong and talented woman. She won many awards through the years for her pottery, so many that some of them were lost. This story beautifully depicts her exemplary life. She represented her people and her art well. Elsie Karr Kreischer was a personal friend of MarÌa Montoya MartÌnez. A writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she is also the author of The Navaho Magic of Hunting , which won the 1992 National League of American Pen Women Children's Book Award. Roberta Sinnock is the owner of Seven Oaks Studio, a 20-year-old company that specializes in book design and illustration. She earned her B.F.A. from Arizona State University with a specialty in graphic design and currently resides in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

Review

At age nine, Maria Montoya Martinez was stricken with smallpox. Near death, she lay limply in her mother's arms, unable even to swallow the herbal teas offered her. All the attempts to revive her seemed to have failed. Trying one last remedy, her aunt and mother filled the hearth with thick green cedar boughs and smoked the room, waving the fumes towards the sick little girl. Maria's mother desperately prayed to Santo Nino, the children's saint, promising that if Maria lived, she would send her on a pilgrimage to see him. Maria lived to make the pilgrimage and enjoy a long life. But she was forever marked by this event.

Maria's pilgrimage to the Santuario in Chimayo, New Mexico, becomes a symbol of her life. It is a journey towards humility, hard work, and perfection. She feels special since she was favored to live. And so she constantly strives to create the most worthy pots she can, always keeping in mind Old Grandmother's prowess with clay. The clay connects her to the earth, and the clay links her to her future husband, Julian, who becomes a painter of her pots. Throughout the years, she is blessed and blesses her whole pueblo with money and, more importantly, love.

Maria Montoya Martinez: Master Potter is the biography of a very sick little girl who grew to be a strong and talented woman. She won many awards through the years for her pottery, representing her people and her art well.

Elsie Karr Kreischer was a personal friend of Maria Montoya Martinez. A writer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she is also the author of The Navaho Magic of Hunting, which won the 1992 National League of American Pen Women Children's Book Award.

Roberta Sinnock is the owner of Seven Oaks Studio, a 20-year-old company that specializes in book design and illustration. She earned her B.F.A. from Arizona State University with a specialty in graphic design and currently resides in Tucson, Arizona. -- From the Publisher

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Publishing (August 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1565540980
• ISBN-13: 978-1565540989
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,430,841 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rewards of Perseverance, August 30, 2009

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LME "The Discerning Viewer" (Central CA, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Maria Montoya Martinez: Master Potter (Hardcover)

This is a delightful book. Maria is a pueblo Indian girl born at the end of the 19th Century. After recovering from a near fatal bout of smallpox her family takes her on a pilgrimage to thank Santo Nino. It is no small thing for a 10-11yr old girl to walk the ten miles necessary for completion of this task.

The theme of the earth and how it draws her to love the art of pottery-making hangs in the backdrop of her life story. She marries, is a sensation at the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, and through the decades is sought out by hundreds (thousands?) who have heard of her work. She is even known to the first ladies of several United States administrations. I hesitate to tell any more as this is such a pleasant read and it is best not to spoil its' beauty.

I recommend the book for grades 3-8 and it would make a nice read-aloud even at the kindergarten or first grade level if you have an attentive listener. The art work consists of B/W drawings which are a good adjunct to the story but truly only four star work. They are not of the same caliber as the story. I bought the book used since it was a gamble at the time. However, it is a book I would not hesitate to gift in the future and is an excellent resource for grade-school studies of American Indians. I would hope that the importance of Maria's religious faith in the first part of the book would not deter anyone from learning about her long and illustrious career and success in the Native American Indian art of pottery. I found her story inspiring.