Sky Dogs [Bargain Price] [School & Library Binding]

Jane Yolen (Author), Barry Moser (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

Combining authentic language, period detail, and passages of tribal legend, Yolen tells the story of the day three horses arrive in Blackfeet territory. To a people who have never before seen them, these horses seem like mysterious large dogs sent from the Blackfeet creator-god. An ALA Notable Book. Full color.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this lyrical tale drawn from Blackfoot legend, an old man recounts the origin of his name, He-who-loves-horses. He describes the coming of horses, "Sky Dogs," from across the plains, and the wonder and awe he and his people felt when they first saw these "big . . .elk, with tails of straw." He-who-loves-horses, then a lonely boy, learns to care for and ride the beautiful animals, and his knowledge and abilities help him earn a place on the council of warriors--and a sense of self-worth. His story is made all the more poignant by the elderly narrator's revelation that "now I sit in the tipi, and food is brought to me, and I do not ride the wind." Moser's sun-and-earth-toned watercolors, of the plains and of the main character as both boy and man, are lovely and haunting. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-5-- Many legends reflect the radical difference the advent of the horse made in the life of the Plains Indians. In fluid storytelling style, Yolen melds the mythic and the realistic modes in the emotions and reactions of her narrator, a motherless Piegan boy, on the day the first "sky dogs" come to his band. Fear and disbelief are tempered by wonder and gratitude . The horse brings the hero a substitute mother and status in the tribe, as it would bring success to all the Plains people. Goble's retelling in The Gift of the Sacred Dog (Bradbury , 1984) emphasizes the legendary over the realistic, and his slick, flat, brightly colored illustrations are the antithesis of Moser's. Moser's palette is all ochre, yellow, and umber, red earth and golden sky. Against the low horizon and dry prairie, humans and horses loom, at once significant and insignificant. Two portrait roundels are as revealing and moving as Catlin's or Bodmer's 19th-century "noble savages." Writer and artist together have produced a fine evocation of a place and a people. --Patricia Dooley, University of Washington, Seattle
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• School & Library Binding
• ISBN-10: 0152754806
• ASIN: B000065V34
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.8 x 0.2 inches
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,966,844 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born and raised in New York City, Jane Yolen now lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. She attended Smith College and received her master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. The distinguished author of more than 170 books, Jane Yolen is a person of many talents. When she is not writing, Yolen composes songs, is a professional storyteller on the stage, and is the busy wife of a university professor, the mother of three grown children, and a grandmother. Active in several organizations, Yolen has been on the Board of Directors of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, was president of the Science Fiction Writers of America from 1986 to 1988, is on the editorial board of several magazines, and was a founding member of the Western New England Storytellers Guild, the Western Massachusetts Illustrators Guild, and the Bay State Writers Guild. For twenty years, she ran a monthly writer's workshop for new children's book authors. In 1980, when Yolen was awarded an honorary Doctor of Law degree by Our Lady of the Elms College in Chicopee, Massachusetts, the citation recognized that "throughout her writing career she has remained true to her primary source of inspiration--folk culture." Folklore is the "perfect second skin," writes Yolen. "From under its hide, we can see all the shimmering, shadowy uncertainties of the world." Folklore, she believes, is the universal human language, a language that children instinctively feel in their hearts. All of Yolen's stories and poems are somehow rooted in her sense of family and self. The Emperor and the Kite, which was a Caldecott Honor Book in 1983 for its intricate papercut illustrations by Ed Young, was based on Yolen's relationship with her late father, who was an international kite-flying champion. Owl Moon, winner of the 1988 Caldecott Medal for John Schoenherr's exquisite watercolors, was inspired by her husband's interest in birding. Yolen's graceful rhythms and outrageous rhymes have been gathered in numerous collections. She has earned many awards over the years: the Regina Medal, the Kerlan Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Society of Children's Book Writers Award, the Mythopoetic Society's Aslan Award, the Christopher Medal, the Boy's Club Jr. Book Award, the Garden State Children's Book Award, the Daedalus Award, a number of Parents' Choice Magazine Awards, and many more. Her books and stories have been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Chinese, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Afrikaans, !Xhosa, Portuguese, and Braille. With a versatility that has led her to be called "America's Hans Christian Andersen," Yolen, the child of two writers, is a gifted and natural storyteller. Perhaps the best explanation for her outstanding accomplishments comes from Jane Yolen herself: "I don't care whether the story is real or fantastical. I tell the story that needs to be told."