The Legend of the Cranberry: A Paleo-Indian Tale

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: This book is about the Paleolithic time in what is now North America, the Great Spirit creates Yah-qua-whee (the mastodon) to help the people. But when the mastodons turn against the people, the smaller animals side with the People to defeat them. After hundreds are killed in the great battle, the "creator" sends thunderbolts into the ground, killing the mastodons. The "crane-berries" that grow in the bogs formed during the fighting are a peace offering from the creator to the people. They are also the gift Native Americans give to the Pilgrims at the first Thanksgiving. I found this book to be very interesting. The legend was something that I had never heard of and the way the author told the story really held my attention. The illustrations were beautiful and would be very helpful to a young reader. This would be a great book to use when doing a culture unit in the classroom.