Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales Book

When it comes to collections of Native American stories they either hit the target really good or they plummet to the ground. Surprisingly there aren't many that seem to ever stick in the middle ground when it comes to these compilations.

Fortunately this was one of those that hit the mark and for so many reasons. First of all knowing that there are so many tribes to cover this book has done a wonderful job in showcasing so many. What the compiler does is to break the book down into regional locations and then gives a broad summary of the groups that lived in the area, some of their lifestyle, how they may have related to other tribes and even what influenced their lifestyles. And then each story started off with a summary that gave even more information about the nation that it came from and what lesson may have been learned from the story to those who heard it.

The stories were given in easy to read and understand format. Each were only a few pages long but kept the tribal elements that makes them unique to each other. And then the illustrations which were bright, beautiful and full of colors. Some were uniquely Native American-like in their presentation.

Finally the last thing that I enjoyed was the sources that were listed in the back of the book. Most of the time I don't read them but this time it caught my eye. Each source gave where the story could be found or was first published at as well as where the author got the story whether from a book or even a storyteller. Knowing this adds a personal touch to the stories instead of just we collected them.

All in all for those who like the Native American stories I would highly recommend this book to be read. You will enjoy the artwork and the stories while knowing how important they are to the continuing spirit of storytelling now as in the present.