Totem Tale: A Tall Story from Alaska

by Deb Vanasse, Erik Brooks (Illustrator)

On a full-moon night in Alaska, a traditional native totem pole magically comes to life. The Grizzly, Beaver, Frog, and Raven all stretch and scratch and voice their relief at being free at last. But then the first dawn light appears on the horizon, and the totems have to reassemble themselves in the proper order before morning. Who should be on top of whom? Can wise Raven reason with these contentious creatures? Deb Vanasse’s enchanting text and Erik Brooks’s lively illustrations make this a memorable modern folktale.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Indigenous, Native American

32 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2006

About the author

Deb Vanasse is the award-winning author of 18 books of fiction and nonfiction, with a special interest in history, historical fiction, and nature. Her newest book is Roar of the Sea. She grew up in the Midwest, attended college in Northern Minnesota, and earned a Masters in the Humanities from California State/Dominguez Hills. After 36 years in Alaska, she now lives on Oregon’s north coast, enjoying beach walks with her boxer dog.

Reviews

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, great introduction to totems. I'd been searching for a book JUST like this to precede our trip to the Burke Museum, but I happened upon it a week too late. Doesn't talk much about the symbolism of each totem animal (I used Sharing Our World: Animals of the Native Northwest Coast for that), but a solid, brief introduction nonetheless.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to use in connection with creating totem animals. It helps kids to understand that the totems also tell a story and have meaning to the people who create them. First I teach them about Tlignit carver Nathan Jackson, and show slides. I then have kids brainstorm native animals to Alaska. I read the story and demo how to stylize the animal, traditional color use, and have them thinking about the story of their animal while creating the work.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an entertaining story that helps teach children a little about the cultural significance and meaning of different totems. The narrative is humorous and the illustrations are colorful. I liked the tall tale style of the story and how the ending resolves the conflict. I think this story would be appropriate for children aged 5 and up.

[Mora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very hard to find! I used it to teach students about indigenous people of the Northwest and their culture.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute tale about the animals featured in a Native Alaskan totem. Each animal is a distinct character and the story is fun. The illustrations are very cute and eye catching.

I would hesitate to use this in a classroom not because of the content but because there is no source material. The author taught school in a Yup'ik village in Alaska where she presumably heard similar tales. The author's note on the back of the book uses the now-defunct E-word. A brief author's note inside states "For more than 200 years the Indigenous cultures of the Pacific Northwest and Southeast Alaska have carved totem poles to illustrate the stories of the clans." She tells you the best places to see these magnificent works of art.

While I think the author means well and I don't mind that she's not from the culture because she lived and worked among them, I do mind that the author's note is so short. I believe totems have been around for THOUSANDS of years, not hundreds.

THIS should be included in the back of the book
https://www.akwildlife.org/news/the-h...

I would place this one in the public library or home library over school or classroom because of the lack of verifiable information.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this one. The author lives in Alaska, but from what I could find, she isn’t a member of any of the tribes that make totem poles. She does teach in a Yup’ik village. That being said, while this isn’t attributed to a particular tribe, it does stick to one story about one totem pole, and it is told pretty well. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the cartoonish illustrations, but my son loved them, and this gave us a chance to learn about totem poles, the tribes that they have significance for, and the artists who make them.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice quick intro to northwest coast art, told in story form that easily obfuscates it's educational nature.

[Bekkah Riecke · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the students in my placement chose this from the media center and we read it while waiting for the class to finish having their hearing checked. I was very pleased with the way the illustrations complimented the story.

This book would be good to use for language arts as an example of a folk tale or legend. It would also work well as a way to introduce an art around the world culture study. I also feel like it would work well in a math lesson because of the problem solving skills used by the characters to find their place on the totem. They had to use logic to figure out the correct order of the animals and it reminded me of the order of operations.

[Suzy · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was in the non-fiction section...has some truth to it, but is a tall tale from Alaska. I liked the illustrations, but the story wasn't exactly a story. It was ok, but I wouldn't get it again.

[The Romantic Rush Blog · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book in my art classroom and my students LOVE it- helps u understand Native American culture and artforms, and we use it to think about what we'd have as our own spiritual totems and how art is used by different culture and peoples for different needs and reasons.

[Ck · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about a raven, grizzly bear, wolf, beaver, eagle and a frog.

[Readergirl77 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute story, great illustrations.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pages of this book were on signs along the trail when we were cross country skiing at Sun Mountain Lodge this weekend.