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Summary: Beautifully illustrated Native American tale.
Review: Children and adults will enjoy the colorful illustrations and tale of how the Native Americans acquired the horse. Lovely!
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Summary: The Great Spirit gives horses (the sacred dog) to the people
Review: The Spanish brought the first horses to North America and for the tribes of nomadic buffalo hunters of the Great Plains there were the most miraculous of creatures. Various tribes called the horse similar names: Sacred Dog, Big Dog, Elk Dog, and Mysterious Dog. Keep in mind that these tribes used dogs to carry and drag burdens, and a horse could not only carry and drag heavier burdens than dogs, but could also carry a rider and run really fast. One things young readers will appreciate in "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" is the idea of how something that they taken for granted, such as the horse, would look to people who had never seen one before."The Gift of the Sacred Dog" tells the story of the first encounter between these native tribes and these wild horses, now told in a way that treats the "Sacred Dogs" as gifts given by the Great Spirit. In this telling by writer-artist Paul Goble a young boy prayers for help for his people, who have grown hungry, and the Great Spirit responds by sending the gift of the Sacred Dogs down from the sky, which allow the tribe to hunt for buffalo. After their arrival, life becomes good for the people and they live as relatives with the Sacred Dogs and other living things, as the Great Spirit wishes them to live. Consequently, "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" sounds some of the environmental themes we associate with the Native American culture in addition to providing their perspective on how they came to be the great horse people of the Plains. The last page of the book has a Sioux song for the return of the buffalo and apparently song excerpts from Sioux songs about horses, but I am not sure that the people of "The Gift of the Sacred Dog" are necessarily supposed to be the Sioux. Goble's artwork is a prime attraction of these books that he has done for Reading Rainbow, Orchard, and other publishers. The first of his work that I came across was "Red Hawk's Account of Custer's Last Battle," and the best way of describing Goble's illustrations is that he essentially works in the style of the Native America artists of the 19th century, using the mediums of the 20th. At the very least he is clearly inspired by such artwork, which makes his work an interesting blending of the old and the new, not to mention being totally appropriate for his subject matter. I especially like the contrast between the simply drawn horses and the often intricate and detailed clothing worn by the human characters.
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