Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 5-Nelson takes readers through a day in the life of Lakota children. Like any kids, they wear jeans and sneakers as they ride a yellow bus to school, but their traditional Lakota ways are part of that day, too. Nelson's distinctive style of illustration blends the realistic here-and-now with representations of the spiritual dimensions of Lakota life. (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
At dawn, buses take kids off to school while pictographic images of buffalo and men on horseback fly through the sky. Throughout the day, the interactions of people, animals, earth, and sky are celebrated in modern poetic language with traditional songs in Lakota and English. This is a pictorial testament to a way of life that still survives in South Dakota. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Past and present meet in a hymn to the Lakota Circle of Life. Contemporary Lakota kids board a school bus at daybreak while "Father Sun gives warmth to Mother Earth. / Meadowlark sings her song as swallows fly above." The day, with its crickets and dragonflies, whispering winds and rainbows, unfolds and circles toward evening and the rising of Sister Moon. Lines of text arc across scenic renderings of earth and sky in double-page spreads filled with figures based on ledger-books drawings and geometric patterns adapted from bead- and quillwork. Nelson, a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, skillfully melds modern and traditional images of people in lush acrylics painted on textured paper. Interspersing the story are songs in the Lakota language, placed alongside English translations. These lovely bits of verse ("At dawn / may I roam / against the winds / may I roam") accompanied by colorful depictions of the ancestors singing and drumming in a circle enhance the connection between generations. The author spells out the philosophy of the Circle of Life in an introduction that is both a celebration of the Lakota Way for those attuned to it and an explanation for those outside of this tradition. A serene, joyous appreciation of our place in the natural world. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
