The Book of Indians (Hardcover)

~ Holling Clancy Holling (Author), Lucille Holling (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Over 9¾" - 12" tall. From the Foreword: "No writer can tell all about the North American Indians in one book, and no artist can draw all the pictures there are to draw. The tribes of Indians are so many that if we tried to tell abou them tribes everyone would be hopeless lost. Insead we take the Indians as a whole and divide them into different types of Indians living in the different kinds of country. This is explained in the first chapter. In the rest of the book there are four chapters about the home life of Indian children and eight chapters relating their adventures."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 125 pages
• Publisher: The Platt & Munk Co; Apparent First Edition edition (1935)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B00085AB6U
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #923,175 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A childhood favorite that stands the test of time, August 19, 2008

By	Barbara J. Altman (Santa Barbara) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has been in my family a long time. My mother originally gave it to her younger brother in 1940, and he later gave it to my brother, some time in the 1950s. In 2000, my brother gave it to my daughter. Our copy has gotten pretty threadbare.

My daughter, who is now 15, dismisses the book as "racist." I don't think that is at all fair. It isn't racist in the sense that "Gone with the Wind" is racist. Maybe she is put off by the use of the non-PC word "Indians"? There are plenty of "Native Americans" who are perfectly happy with the label "Indians."

Anyway, this gorgeous book is an attempt at ethnography for a young audience, documenting the material culture of four different types of Native Americans: northeast woods, plains, desert and northwest coastal. Large color illustrations and lots of detailed drawings and diagrams accompany the clear and simple (but never condescending) text.

As a child I spent hours poring over the Hollings' cutaway diagrams and floor plans of plains earth lodges, northeastern wickiups, kivas, and northwestern split plank lodges. If I had been so inclined, I could probably have duplicated quillwork, feather blankets, tipi construction or woven fur robes based on these detailed illustrations.

Each separate group is described in detail in a first expository chapter, which is followed by a story about a child from that group. The stories are exciting and fun, and the action keeps the book from getting too dry. I especially liked the thrilling tale of the young northwest boy who goes on his first whale hunt and accidentally goes into the drink when a long line of floats gets wrapped around his ankle. He survives to tell the tale, while eating whale meat dipped in melted blubber at the communal feast the follows the successful hunt.

The book does a good job of showing how life changed over time, for some groups. The desert people are shown first in cliff dwellings, and much later in a mesa-top pueblo. Some of the effects of contact with the white man are also shown: "Before" and "After" chapters show how the plains peoples' culture underwent an amazing flowering after they began to use horses.

Of course, no mention is made of the ravages of European diseases, or the distressing effects of the introduction of alcohol. The decline of the Native Americans as they lost their lands and livelihoods is left for children to learn later, as they become ready for such hard truths. But this book prepares the way for those revelations by teaching just how rich Native American cultures were, before they were lost forever. I can't fault the Hollings for this omission. Their book is clearly a labor of love, both educational and entertaining.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure, May 11, 2009

By	G. Quinn (Atlantic City, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Book of Indians (Hardcover)

I treasure this and the author's companion book on cowboys. Great, great stories, with sensitivity to the native Americans involved, and with beautiful illustrations. I'd love to see both reprinted.