Tom PohrtCritiques

Four Coyote tales, retold and illustrated by Tom Pohrt. I like the retellings, which are simple and strange, but not the illustrations, which are a weird combination of realistic and something that might be an attempt to represent that Coyote is simultaneously an animal and a god. Coyote's paws, for example: these weird fubsy lumps might be intended to look like hands without looking too wrong at the ends of a coyote's limbs, but they just look like bad drawing.

These are charming Native American stories about the Coyote, showing him to be a creator, a trickster, a good friend and an impudent beast with little respect for other animals. I liked the way this book showed different sides to the Coyote's character -- he wasn't always the bad guy and he learned from his mistakes. Great lessons for all of us!

Poht illustrates his own stories of Coyote in this book. I like that he includes many myths involving Coyote because he is so human. He is weak and makes mistakes but at times he is capable of wonderful things. COULD ACCOMPANY A NATIVE AMERICAN HISTORY OR MYTHOLOGY/FOLKTALES/LEGENDS UNIT.