Authors: Bill Martin Jr. & John Archambault
Illustrator: Ted Rand
Summary: A Native American boy
begs his grandfather to tell the story of the boy’s birth once again. Through prompting, the birth story and more are told: During a wind storm,
the boy was born sickly & blind, but a pair of horses seemed to give him
strength so he was named Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses at his naming ceremony. When a foal was born, it was given to the boy so he learned to swiftly ride through the trails despite his blindness. In a horse race, the boy and his horse do not win, but many spectators are amazed. At the end of the book, you learn that each knot in the rope
represents a re-telling of the story until the boy can tell it himself.
Hanna’s Comments: This
is a complicated but beautiful story that illustrates several themes: the loving bonds across
generations, the importance of owning our origin stories, the power in a name,
and the resilience of those who courageously adapt to their limitations. This would be a powerful story for grandparents to read to their grandchildren before sharing birth/origin
stories. Faith and scripture stories could easily follow.
Publisher & Date Published: Holt & Company, 1987
Age and Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up
# of Pages: 32
Available in Spanish? Not at present
Formats other
than Book: Audio Cd, videos on Youtube (one version read by 2
professional actors)
PBT Category: Pre 2K
PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abilities,
acceptance, ancestors/patriarchs & matriarchs, attentiveness/observation/seeing,
birth/birthday, bravery/courage, challenges, darkness/evening/night,
difficulties, disabilities/handicaps/limitations, grandparents, identity/names,
listening, memories/remembering/ritual/tradition, obstacles, parables/stories, perseverance, questioning/questions,
reassurance, reflection
Scripture Connections: scripture stories in which
a character is named or re-named; Saul becomes Paul (Acts 9) & Barnabus becomes
his helper (Acts 13)
Idea(s) for Application: when teaching the importance
of repeating faith stories such as at Passover or Eucharist/Communion
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