Based on the Blackfoot legend of the origin of horses, my granddaughter and I really liked this book-- not only the story but the illustrations as well. Beautiful. ( )

Summary: A young motherless boy in a tribe of Blackfeet Indians is present when his people see horses for the first time and are changed forever. It goes through the life of the boy who will become the first one from his tribe to ever ride a horse.
Genre Critique: This story is considered a biography because its a historical retelling of the way that the specific boy and his tribe came into contact with horses for the first time.
Character critique: In this story He-who-loves-horses is a very dynamic character. At first he starts as a young boy who is initially nervous and scared of the horses that come into their village. Then throughout the story he ends up becoming the first person from the tribe to ride on one of the horses, which is how he ends up getting his name.

This is a story aobut an older gentlemen, He-who-loves-horses, who recants the tale of how his tribe arrived at his name. He tells the story of the sky dogs and how they became a part of his tribe.

I enjoyed this story. The way the man told the story reminded me of when I used to listen to my grandfather tell me stories about things which intrigued me. The illustrations were modest, but absolutely beautiful.

As an extension, I would have the students pick Native American names for themselves and then illustrate those names on pieces of "buffalo hide" or wrinkled brown paper towels. A second extension could be to read Green Snake Ceremony in conjunction with this book, and compare the two tribes. How are they alike? What is different about them? ( )