Giving Thanks; A Native American Morning Message

by Chief Jake Swamp, illustrated by Irwin Printup, Jr. Lee & Low, 1995. I received a nice review copy of this book in the mail this week from the publisher. I was sad to learn that Chief Jake Swamp passed away this past October. He was a force for peace in the world and a leader of integrity, serving  the Council of Chiefs in the Mohawk Iroquois Nation for over three decades. He started the Tree of Peace Society in 1984, working to bring folks together around the planting of trees and community building for peace.

He wrote the book Giving Thanks; A Native American Good Morning Message for children, in order to share with the world this poem and prayer for peace and thanksgiving. These words have been shared in the Thanksgiving Address at community gatherings, political meetings, in family homes, and in personal spiritual practice for generations.

Chief Swamp has brought to us the poetry of the Iroquois language and translated it into English as a bridge of joy and thanksgiving in the service of peace. At the back of the book he has it written in the original Mohawk language. I searched for an audio recording that I could link to here, in order to give you the flavor of his voice reading it, but was unable to find it. I did find an audio book for sale at the Weston Woods website, where you can hear the first couple stanzas in both English and Mohawk read by Chief Jake Swamp, as a preview. What a joy it is to hear him speak this powerful poem in Mohawk with his majestic voice! You can purchase the whole thing on CD, video or PlayAway. There are a couple video productions that include this book, and I requested one from my public library to enjoy over the Thanksgiving break. Hear the words:

"To be a human being is an honor, and
we offer thanksgiving for all the gifts of life.

Mother Earth, we thank you for giving us
everything we need.

Thank you, deep blue waters around Mother Earth,
for you are the force that takes thirst away from all living things."

I won't quote the whole poem here, but I urge you to find a copy and read it together with some young ones. We read it in the library this week and the children were spellbound. The beautiful illustrations by Erwin Printup, Jr. (a Cayuga/Tuscarora Indian & artist) were a perfect match for the solemn and joyful words. With my second graders we followed the instructions on the Lee & Low Teacher's Guide page and made our own accordion books to celebrate what we are thankful for on this World Peace Day. It was a great project! I asked the children to think about how peace and thanksgiving are connected or contribute to each other, and their books really showed how they felt being thankful makes a more peaceful world. I think it might be a refreshing way to look at giving thanks in this world of packaged holidays.

What do you think? If we all said a daily morning message of thanksgiving, would the world be more peaceful? How and Why?

Here are the final words to the poem:

"And most of all, thank you, Great Spirit, for
giving us all these wonderful gifts, so we will be
happy and healthy every day and every night."

Links:
PlayAway audiobook
Weston Woods recording
eDigital Media audiobook
Teacher support/lesson plans
Jake Swamp remembered at Lee & Low
Personal Appeal from Chief Jake Swamp

Today's Friday Poetry Round up is hosted  by Diane at Random Noodling. Enjoy your weekend!

Review: How the Moon Regained her Shape

by Janet Ruth Heller, illustrated by Ben Hodson. Silvan Dell, 2006. (Review copy). This gorgeously illustrated folktale is about the moon. It is a compelling story about how to deal with bullying, insulting behavior. The sun, with a mean face and a brash attitude, tells the moon she is not needed by anyone. Moon shrinks away to a "sliver of her former self" in shame and embarrassment, until her friend Comet kindly brings her to Round Arms, a woman living at the base of the mountains who knows the power of love and encouragement. By reminding Moon of the ones who love her, including rabbits, artists and women who dance under the light of the moon, Round Arms restores the faith and joy of Moon so that she returns to her full self.

I received word from Slivan Dell of a link to the ebook version of this volume at their website, which is free to all for the month of November. (click on the book cover in the right hand column of the home page).

How the Moon Regained Her Shape is Sylvan Dell Publishing’s November featured eBook. Anyone can access this book for the entire month of November on the Sylvan Dell homepage.

I showed it to second and first graders in the library last week and they loved it! They wanted to see the print version too in order to hold it in their hands and peruse the lovely artwork, so I am glad to have both versions available in the library.  We saw, read and listened to the book on the wide screen in the library and it was a delightful experience. The print copy has had a lot of traffic, and when I left the ebook open on the computer the children flipped through it over & over.

The book has additional information about the phases of the moon on the final pages, and on the computer you can zoom in to see the descriptive diagrams large. The children were fascinated by the difference views of the moon through out the month as it waxes and wanes. I learned something new too; I have been admiring and watching the moon my whole life but I never realized that as it waxes and wanes it appears in predicatable places in the sky at certain times of day:

"As it approaches full, the moon appears to be getting bigger and is visible in the east in the afternoon. About two weeks after the new moon, the full moon rises when the sun sets and sets when the sun rises. The moon appears to get smaller, or to wane, after the full moon. Then the bright side of the moon points to the rising sun. The third-quarter moon is highest in the sky when the sun rises and can be seen in the morning on a clear day. As the moon approaches its new moon phase once again, its sliver (or crescent) is visible in the eastern sky just before sunrise, then after the new moon, in the western sky just after sunset."

So if you see the crescent moon in the sky in the early morning, the light side of it is facing the rising sun. If you see a crescent moon in the afternoon sky, the light side is facing the setting sun.  They curl in opposite directions. Makes sense but I never thought of it that together before! So cool to learn new information from a folklore picture book.

The other part of this book that the children were really focused on was the helpful strategies for dealing with bullies. We had just spent some time school-wide talking about dealing with bullies, so the children had it fresh in their minds. They were able to talk about what they had experienced and restate useful, effective strategies for dealing with it in real life, such as leaving the bully without engaging in back and forth, telling someone else, and finding positive, loving relationships to bolster yourself under stress. This book is a beautiful blend of story, scientific information about the natural world, and real life personal relationship wisdom.

The one thing about the book that I am not sure of is the sort of Native-American-ish nature of the folklore and illustrations. It is not an actual Native American story and the artwork is only loosely based on a Native-ish style, which does not claim to be any particular culture. But it may lead one to believe they are reading an actual folktale developed and passed on by a particular tribal group. That makes me uncomfortable because it is clearly not so. On the other hand, what is wrong with echoing a style of art and using a traditional voice in telling a story? There is a very critical review of the book at  American Indians in Children's Literature. What do you think?

Be sure to visit the Silvan Dell homepage to see this  ebook for yourself. And check out the Nonfiction Monday roundup of blog posts at the blog In Need of Chocolate. Enjoy!

Nonficiton Monday Schedule

Chronicle Books wish list

Chronicle Books is running a book give-away drawing between now and Dec. 15th. For the Happy Haulidays drawing all bloggers have to do is post a wish list worth up to $500 of books. What books would you like to have? If I would happen to win this drawing, one of my commenters here on this post would win the list too. Sound like fun? I would LOVE to win these books for my library:

Story Painter By John Duggleby

Jacob Lawrence in the City

By Susan Goldman Rubin

Wish

By Roseanne Thong
Illustrated by Elisa Kleven

Sienna's Scrapbook

By Toni Trent Parker
Illustrated by Janell Genovese

Ruby's Wish

Written by Shirin Yim Bridges
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall

Snow White/Blancanieves

Adapted by Miquel Desclot
Illustrated by Ignasi Blanch

Beauty and the Beast/La bella y la bestia

Adapted by Roser Ros
Illustrated by Cristina Losantos

Papa, Do You Love Me?

By Barbara M. Joosse
Illustrated by Barbara Lavallee

Out of Sight

By Pittau & Gervais

Eight Winter Nights

By Laura Krauss Melmed
Illustrated by Elisabeth Schlossberg

Don't Let Auntie Mabel Bless the Table

By Vanessa Brantley Newton

Oh Lord, I Wish I was a Buzzard

By Polly Greenberg
Illustrated by Aliki

Beyond the Great Mountains

By Ed Young

The Story of Little Black Sambo

By Helen Bannerman
Illustrated by Christopher Bing

Fire Race

By Jonathan London
and Lanny Pinola
Illustrated by Sylvia Long

Hanukkah Haiku

By Harriet Ziefert
Illustrated by Karla Gudeon

Night of the Moon

By Hena Khan
Illustrated by Julie Paschkis

Moishe's Miracle

By Laura Krauss Melmed
Illustrated by David Slonim

Quiet waters haiku

Life is a little crazy around here this week. It's nice to take some time to rest by the quiet waters and just soak in the color.



sitting by water
waiting for clarity;
silt settles


  -Andromeda Jazmon



red berries
beside the woodland path;
resting spot

  -Andromeda Jazmon



Enjoy some slow sunshine this weekend. And stop by the Friday Poetry round up hosted by Terry at  Scrub-a-Dub-Tub.

Pearl of China

by Anchee Min. Bloomsbury USA. March 2010. Anchee Min, who also wrote Red Azalea, Becoming Madame Mao and The Last Empress, has written a fascinating story on the life of Pearl S. Buck. Buck grew up in China at the turn of the last century and came to be most well known for her wonderfully successful novel The Good Earth, which won her the Pulitzer in 1938 as the first American woman to win one.

Min grew up during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s and was not allowed to read The Good Earth until she came to the US in 1996. She dedicates this novel to Buck as a tribute to her deep connection to China and the Chinese people. Since I lived in China for two years in the mid 80s and love The Good Earth, this was a natural book for me.

Willow, the main character, is the child of a poor man who attaches himself to Pearl's father in order to make his living by assisting the missionary in church building. At first the two girls don't like each other, but a mutual attraction and fascination eventually brings them together and makes them the best of friends. The novel progresses through their growing up years and on into early adulthood, marriages, the birth of Pearl's daughter, and the failure of both of their marriages. Pearl marries again and leaves China to live in the US. She adopts eight children and lives in a farm house in Pennsylvania. I have visited the home, which is preserved as a memorial. I have actually seen her typewriter set up on the desk in front of the window looking out over the garden as it is described in  this book. I've walked around the huge wooden table in the kitchen and imagined the family gathered there on the long benches. It is really cool to read about Willow visiting this place and being able to relate to her feelings of awe and wonder and affection for Pearl.

Min also portrays the political upheavals in China through out the 20th century with insight and compassion. Willow lives through the Mao and Gang of Four, suffering and struggling to survive with the rest of the Chinese people. Her second husband is one of Mao's right hand men. At one point she returns to her childhood village and finds friends and family living crammed together in an empty church building. She is forced to work cleaning the town latrines, which in my personal experience is a horrendous sensory experience. They somehow make it through the cultural Revolution though, and Willow does alright just as Min has done. In spite of all the difficulties and miles separating them, Pearl and Willow hang onto their deep friendship. The vast differences in perspective and cultural values are brought to light in the simplest details of daily life. The tenderness of a life long friendship is celebrated even as the modern history of China is illustrated in the events of their lives.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in China or the novels of Pearl S. Buck and Anchee Min. I think it could be a good crossover book for young adults interested in modern history and cultural explorations. If you have spent any time in China you really need to read this book and leave me a comment about what you thought of it. As I read the descriptions of living conditions, food, family and countryside I was flooded with memories. I'd love to hear what you thought!

PiBoIdMo: I'm in!

 

PiBoIdMo - Tara Lazar's wonderful idea for a month of inspiration. Just scribble down an idea for a picture book every day for the month of November, and you are eligible to win a prize from a list that includes original artwork from children's book illustrators, critique and advice from editors, and other cool stuff. You don't have to share your ideas, just sign the pledge to really truly do it. Then, at the end of the month, you will have a goldmine of potential to develop and turn into maybe an actual book or two in the future! That's what I am hoping for anyway.  Tara has guest bloggers posting ideas and encouragement all month at her blog so you can get inspired. You have until Nov. 7 to sign up so go on! Grab a notebook and jump! 

"First you jump off the cliff and you build wings on the way down."

Ray Bradbury 

Autumn Haiku

quiet waters;
brilliant autumn colors
gathered shadows

-Andromeda Jazmon

This weekend it is cold and rainy, but last weekend was brilliant sunshine. The leaves were at their peek and we had a glorious afternoon in the woods. I hope you find some of this light to bask in around your way. Check out the Friday Poetry round up hosted by JoAnn at Teaching Authors.



gold infused leaves
come down one at a time;
still water

-Andromeda Jazmon

Review: The Other Half of My Heart

by Sundee T. Frazier. Delacorte Press, 2010. (Library copy). Minni and Keira are eleven years old twins. They are biracial, with a Black mom and white dad. Minni is lighter skinned and looks like dad, while Keira is darker and looks more like mom. Everywhere they go people remark over them and wonder how they could be born of the same parents, since they look so completely different. Minni and Keira are very close friends as well as sisters, and the reactions to their appearence causes some tension as they get older.

Their Black grandmother invites them down south to North Carolina for the summer to compete in the Miss Black Pearl Preteen beauty pagent. Keira is delighted with the idea (she loves to shine on stage) but Minni feels shy and awkward and would rather skip the whole thing. Her first loyalty is to her sister however, so she tries her best to play along. It is really interesting to read her point of view as she becomes involved in the social scene and worries about whether she will be accepted as Black enough to even participate. Her mother assures her "there are many ways to be Black" and by the end of the story she has seen that lived out in her grandmother Johnson and her community. At times the girls feel discriminated against and even wonder about their grandmother's different treatment of them based on her life experience. There are many questions as the story develops that pull readers in and invite speculation about why characters react the way they do.

You can read about the backstory and how Sundee, a biracial beauty pageant runner up herself, has experienced similar situations at her website. There is also an excerpt from the book to get you hooked. I think this would be a fascinating read aloud with fifth or sixth graders. I'd love to hear their reactions and discussions as the book progresses.

The book has been nominated for a Mock Coretta Scott King
Interview with the author here.
Review at Semicolon here.
Tina Says blog has a review here.
 You can read more reviews at  goodreads.com.

If you've read the book please leave a comment about how you found it. I've never been in a beauty pageant. Did is seem real to you? Have you experienced something similar?

Dia de los Muertos/Day of the Dead

Dia de los Muertos is a Mexican celebration remembering loved ones who have passed on. It is celebrated in many communities in Mexico and the United States. Here are some children's books I've been reading over the past week to my elementary school classes:

On Day of the Dead by Yolanda James, illustrated by Russ Daff. Dingles & Co. 2008. Simple, clear text describes ways to celebrate, including making pan de Muertos, or round, sweet bread, ofrentas, or home altars remembering dead family members. The altar is decorated with symbols of earth, fire, water and air in the fruits, candles, drinks and papel picado or cut paper decorations. Other things to make and display include sugar skulls, skull masks, marigold flowers and favorite foods. Families sing and dance together and visit the graveyard to remember their loved ones. The illustrations in this book are brightly colored, warm and vibrant, showing the love and care of close-knit family.  This book would be good for beginning readers. Recommended for ages 2- 7.

Uncle Monarch  by Judy Goldman, illustrated by Rene King Moreno. Boyd's Mill Press, 2008. Lupita shares the joy of returning monarch butterflies and remembers loved ones who have died as she celebrates the Day of the Dead with Tia Urbano. When he becomes sick and dies she has a way to celebrate his life. Very sweet story and lovely connection with monarch butterflies. Another blog review here at Nummybooks.

 I Remember Abuelito; a Day of the Dead Story by Janice Levy. Another sweet story connecting monarch migration with remembering loved ones who have passed away. Classes studying monarchs will find these books to fit right in with the theme. Levy brings out the elements of the family and community celebration while sharing the tender moments of a child and her grandmother.

Just a Minute! a Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Moralas. In this funny book Senior Calaveras tries to trick Grandma Beetle into coming away with him but she is just too busy getting ready to party with her grandchildren. Counting words in Spanish and English invite the audience to read along as she counts her decorations and preparations. Bright, bold illustrations add to the festivities. Yuyi Moralas is an artist, and storyteller from Mexico, now living in California. She has a fabulous website here with printables and more. At Chronical books she talks about her work and Dia de los Muertos.

Other links:

School Library Journal has a book list online.
The Museum of International Folkart has a page dedicated to celebrating Dia de los Muertos.
Paper Tigers blogs about the children's book El dia de los muertos/ The Day of the Dead, a bilingual picture book written and illustrated by Bob Barner and translated by Teresa Mlawer (Holiday House, 2010).

Lastly we have enjoyed this YouTube song in Spanish. The kinders and first graders have been singing it on the playground all week - fun!