This book tells of the first encounter between the Taino and the Columbian expedition of 1492 from the point og view of a young Taino boy.
There is a lot to discuss and explain with young readers. Recommended for fifth graders. ( )

The illustrations are lush, and I appreciated the change in perspective on a familiar story.

Remarkably layered. ( )

This retelling of Christopher Columbus's first landfall is told from the point of view of a Taino boy who senses that it will be bad from the time that the ships lay anchor in the harbor. He sees through all the supposed kindnesses that Columbus and his men offer and is one of the Taino that are tricked into being kidnapped by the sailors when they depart. He luckily jumps overboard, however, and returns to the islands to warn his people. Sadly, his warnings go unheeded because he is a child, and his people are overcome by the Spaniards that are to come later until no more of his culture remains. This is a well-told story, despite its depressing overtone. It's historical, and when a period in history is that dark, there's no avoiding the tone matching the history. This is another great example of historical fiction by Jane Yolen. ( )

The story of Christopher Columbus' first meeting with the indigenous peoples of the western hemisphere, when he and his men came ashore on San Salvador, on October 12, 1492, is here told from the perspective of a young Taino boy. After a terrible dream involving three white birds, the boy tries to warn his elders when three extraordinary 'canoes' show up on their shores, but to no avail. The white strangers, who seem almost human, are welcomed, and the consequences are terrible and long-lasting...

Published in 1992, on the 500th anniversary of Columbus' landfall on San Salvador, Encounter is meant to retell a familiar story - the 'discovery' of the 'New World' by Europeans - from an important but long-neglected perspective. The story does not reference many of the terrible things done by Columbus and his men directly. Rather, it concentrates on the narrator's first encounter with these strange non-quite human creatures, describes the feeling of unease the boy experiences, and his escape from their great ship, when he is taken away. After brief mention of his efforts to warn others, the narrative then skips ahead to the narrator's old age, as he looks back on the changes the coming of Europeans brought to his home island and region. On the whole, I find this approach quite constructive, and think it is age appropriate for younger children, perhaps six and under. It's important not to hide the terrible aspects of human history from children, but I believe it's equally important to consider the well-being of the child, when thinking of how to present that history to them. I have little patience with those who would whitewash history, but I have even less for those who would wallow in every historical atrocity, and insist that others do the same. When that insistence involves children, I become even less patient, as it often seems to me that such people preference their own desires - to share what they see as the truth, to feel righteous - over the psychological welfare of those most dependent upon them for protection and care.

All of which is to say, I prefer balance in these matters. Teach the truth, show multiple perspectives, and choose what specific narratives to share based on the developmental needs of the audience. I recently read three picture-book biographies of Christopher Columbus - David A. Adler's A Picture Book of Christopher Columbus, Peter Sís' Follow the Dream: The Story of Christopher Columbus and Demi's Columbus - in order to mark Columbus Day, and each takes a different approach to this issue. The Adler mentions but does not explore the impact Columbus' voyages had on the people of the Caribbean, the Sís' does not explore the aftermath of that landfall on San Salvador whatsoever, and the Demi offers the fullest depiction of some of the deleterious effects of the arrival of Europeans in the Caribbean. Each approach would work best with a slightly different age group, and for a different purpose, whether to learn about Columbus' life or to explore what drives explorers to head off into the unknown. Whatever the focus may be however, each one of these books is told from the perspective of Columbus, making a book like Encounter valuable, in its presentation of the parallel perspective of the native Taino. The fact that it is told (mostly) from a child's perspective makes it more powerful, as do the striking illustrations of David Shannon. I would recommend this one as a companion volume to any of the biographies mentioned above, and think it could be used in a Columbus Day lesson for younger children, or even in a lesson about how perspective shapes the historical narratives we embrace as a culture. ( )