Customer Reviews

Two Bad Boys: A Very Old Cherokee Tale

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This book does parallel the Genesis creation myth, yes, because this book is an interpretation of a Cherokee myth by a woman of Christian background and knowledge-base. Within some Cherokee communities this book is even seen as a MISinterpretation, a retelling which misses the point of the tale when it's told in context and without changing important details, which Ms. Haley has done.
She is a successful author, with books from several different European-based cultures in her repertoire. However, in taking this Native American story, making changes, and then filtering it through traditional Western sensibilities, she has done a great injustice. The original tale, which I highly recommend all readers to find (it's not difficult), is not about transgression and punishment of the human race for all time through forced labor. Some of the lessons which may be gleaned from the original tale are about learning from our human mistakes, seeking to make the proper amends when we should, and finding forgiveness and acceptance, even abundance, when we do the right things. I suggest readers to find the REAL story of Selu and Kanati, and take their own lessons from what they find. Don't buy this book.

I view this book differently from the other reviewer. What I get from reading this book is not an abbreviated version of the Selu and Kanati tale, but a portion of it. Being a children's picture book, therefore, not very long or complex, the author has chosen to relate only part of the whole story. I don't see it as a misrepresentation, but a segment. And that segment, while reminding some readers of the Adam and Eve story, reminded me more of the Pandora's Box myth, when all the world's evils were let out of the box.

Meanwhile, the artwork is superb and contributes quite effectively to an enjoyable experience. I would buy this book, knowing it isn't a scholarly treatise and was not written as such.