Boy of the Painted Cave

Boy of the Painted Cave

by Justin Denzel

Tao is an outcast. Unlike the great hunters of his clan, Tao does not want to kill the wild bears or woolly mammoths of the hunt. Instead he wants only to paint them. But only Chosen Ones can be cave painters. What's more, Volt, the clan leader, violently despises Tao. And when the other clan members discover Tao's secret talent, they cast him out into the wilderness alone. There, he befriends a wild wolf dog named Ram, and the mysterious Graybeard, who teaches him the true secret of the hunt.

Genres: Historical Fiction, School, Middle Grade, Childrens, Fiction, Adventure, Historical

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Justin Denzel was an American author of children's and young adult books.
He was born in Clifton, New Jersey in 1917. As a child he showed an early interest in nature that was to reappear later in his books. He worked for some years in Alaska, where he wrote for an Alaskan newspaper. He gave up writing after an unsuccessful attempt to write an adult novel, however when he returned to writing he realized he liked to make short stories and children's novels more.
Many of his books featured nature and animals and tend to have a historical setting.

Reviews

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story about a boy living in the prehistoric era who wants to be a cave painter despite the fact that he is lame and this would make him unable to be a Chosen One. My kids and I (age 9) are doing a prehistory unit for our homeschooling, and both my kids and I eagerly looked forward to reading this story every day. It held just the right amount of historical detail and adventure to make this a really fun read.

I'd recommend reading this if you're looking for a short, fun, historical fiction read, written at the middle grade level.

[Jenny Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was cool yo

[Tracy Linford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I liked this book. I can see why a lot of commenters said it was required reading in elementary school. The book is a slow paced coming of age story. I enjoyed the detailed description of cave painting and the processes that might have been used to obtain supplies. It was a short and sweet listen. It was a great filler while I searched for my next book.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good boring at some times and did not always make sense but when it did it was good and kept me hooked.

[Kathleen Talbot · Rating 3 out of 5]

This another book I read to my 6th grade ELA/SS classes. It’s not easy to find a book for 11 and 12 year olds set in prehistoric times, so this one fits the bill. My students love it and we finish by doing our own cave paintings. Pretty fun!

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better than the entire series of Jean Auel's M. Earth's Children series combined. To be fair, Denzel's book came out 8 years after The Clan of the Cave Bear and 6 years after The Valley of Horses but he stuck more to the everyday struggles of a young cave man rather than the everynight sexcapades that Auel centered on. Believe it or not, the lack of sex made for a much better book.



The protagonist is easy to like. The world created is believable. There are cool animals to "ooo" and "ahh" over. The protagonist's problems are still the same problems we have today -- trying to get along with a bunch of assholes who want to sacrifice you to their god(s).



The only big problem I had with the book was that there was confusion about tarpans and horses. Back when this was published, it was thought that Prezwalkski's horse were one of four horse types that created all of the root stock of the domesticated horse. It is now known that Prezwalski's horse is a different species entirely (different chromosome number) and that tarpans may have added more to the domesticated horses of today than originally thought. A minor quibble, but STILL ...

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was well enough written, but I didn't care for the message of not following leadership, forging your own path, following your dreams even if they're taboo, etc. I realize in this instance there weren't good reasons for the taboos, but I think that part will be largely lost on children ... especially since the whole "follow your heart/dreams" is overly enforced in society. I'm not anti-following-passions, but given the over-emphasis on this today at large I think the part of the book that tries to balance that will be overlooked by most readers. That aside, the story was just ok and not particularly compelling.

[Shira · Rating 1 out of 5]

Had to read this for school.
It was terrible I think.
And totally not on level with 8th grade reading. It was less than 100 pages, not much content, completely boring.

We only read it because of social studies, we're studying the same topic.

I thought it was very boring and people should not read this book.

[Nevelyn Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am teaching this book to the sixth grade class. I love the language and vocabulary used in the writing. The figurative language is rich for many instructional lessons as well as to enjoy as a reader. The students also enjoyed reading about Tao and are now very interested in our unit of early man in history. I’m so glad there is a historical fiction book in this time period.

[Melissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book started off slow. Finally after the boy started getting some training the book finally picked up speed and development of a plot. In all a very interesting book, and I would recommend for preteens to read.

[Jiwonkang · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard to me at the first time but it was good, I liked the main character becoming a perfect painter. However, it was little bit disappointing at the last chapter cause i felt the story was getting too fast.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We read this to accompany Story of the World Volume 1. I really enjoyed this especially the bond between Ram and Tao. It reminded me, in ways, of Where the Red Fern Grows. I also liked the independence and capability it showed Tao having, in spite of his disability.

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was one of those few books that I hated.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the novel Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel, it jumps into the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain and dates back to about 18 to 20 thousand years ago. The story starts out with a young boy named Tao, who is obsessed with cave painting and drawing. Unfortunately, the clan leader Volt, forbids cave painting unless you're a clan cave painter, like Graybeard. (We’ll find out about him later in the review.) Tao is sent out hunting, and meets a young wolf dog who he names Ram. Tao is close to Ram because they hunt together and keep each other company. It is hard for Tao because Volt does not allow wolf dogs in his clan, so Tao must be secret about his hunting with Ram. Tao then meets Graybeard, who is a shaman. (Graybeard travels from clan to clan painting caves.)
In this novel, Boy of the Painted Cave, there are many big events. One of the first events is when Tao meets Ram. Tao could see a bone stuck in Ram’s mouth. Tao sprang onto Ram, yanking the bone out of his mouth. Another big event in the story is when Tao first met Graybeard. Graybeard automatically knew who Tao was. Graybeard taught Tao how to paint and draw animals in caves secretly, so that the clan leader, Volt, wouldn’t find out. The third and last main event before the end, is when Tao and Ram try to hunt a herd of mammoths.
I loved this book because there was a lot of action and the book really caught on to me, and I immediately got sucked into the book when I read the first sentence. One of my favorite parts of the story was the ending. The ending really made the book make sense. I really liked this author because he gave a lot of detail in the book. I think anyone could read this book, and say it was great.
I would recommend this book to anybody, and I think they would like it because the novel is packed with so much action and detail that it’s just a great book. I would give this book 5 stars because I really liked and anybody else could read the first chapter and say, “I’ll read this book!”
“You are a dreamer.” - Kala “I feel good here.” - Graybeard.

[Luke Day · Rating 5 out of 5]

The novel Boy of the Painted Cave by Justin Denzel takes place in the foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain, eighteen to twenty thousand years ago during prehistoric times. The main character is Tao who has a dream of being a cave painter, doesn't want to help hunt, he also has a bad foot. Tao wants to be a cave painter but the clan people only let chosen ones picked from the spirits be cave painters but he also struggles with not knowing what happened to his parents.
This book is about Tao, one-day tao was drawing pictures in the sand but he lost his rabbit. That night the clan people told tao to go search for the rabbit but it was gone so he went to bed but a wolf-dog came which he saved, befriended and named ram. Later in the book, Tao and ram are out hunting but they see mammoths charging so ram goes and tries to stop them but a wolf cannot take on a huge mammoth. Lastly, Tao is accused of murderer so he is sent to face the mighty Saxon.
I think this book is great, I like the story, how the book progresses, and how they introduce characters. The story is great because it tells you a lot about how ancient peoples survived but it also is very descriptive of everything like “Noises filled the swamp, reeds cracked.” The first page introduces the main character Tao and his struggle, which is really great.
I recommend this book because it can be thrilling at times or descriptive which would be good to a younger audience but if I had to rate this book it would be 4 ½ stars. I liked a part of the book where mammoths attack Tao because it is very descriptive.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tao is a disabled early human who desperately wants to make art on the cave walls. He is somewhat ostracized from his tribe because of his disability, yet is still expected to bring home his hunting finds. His particular tribe has taboos against hunting with wolves/dogs and hunting in a particular area nearby. One day while in that particular area looking for rabbits, Tao finds a young wolf-dog and befriends it. Tao learns that the wolf can help him hunt well, but he keeps the wolf hidden so that he won't be punished for going against the taboo. Tao continues to find success and he finds an abandoned cave for shelter (I kept wondering why his tribe did not worry that he was not coming home?) and lives there with his wolf and experiments by learning how to draw on his own. Then he meets the shaman for all of the tribes who, alone, is the one permitted to make cave art and he convinces the shaman to help him learn. Eventually Tao is found out for having acted against the taboos and is put to the test, which he passes and becomes the new shaman after the old shaman dies.

Alice was reading this for her 6th grade English class to tie-in with the 6th grade Social Studies unit on early humans. Since I had started reading her 4th and 5th grade books, I figured I would continue on with that habit. Unlike the Island of the Blue Dolphins and Number the Stars, I found this book quite dull. If it weren't for a couple of sleepless nights, this short book would have taken much longer to read. In this case I felt that they were looking for any book that fit the topic, rather than looking for a good book that fit the topic.

[Nicole Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was on my son's summer reading list for 6th grade.
He wasn't happy about it not choosing his own book for summer reading. I picked up the book and started reading it to him, alternating between paragraphs, we read the book together.

I enjoyed this historical fiction story. Tao was an orphan with a clubbed foot. He was to be thrown away at birth because of his defect. His mother could not do it, so an older woman, Kala, raised him. The plot develops and soon Tao is breaking several taboos. While surviving in the woods alone.

Towards the middle of the book, my son started to become interested in the story. I pointed out parts of the book that used foreshadowing and questioned my son to see if he could recognize it too.

All in all, this is the kind of book students should read in middle school.

[Janet Watson]

I've always enjoyed reading books about indigenous people. That's why I wrote one myself--Sons of The People. Of course, this book intrigued me in the way that the actual cave paintings of Lascaux have fascinated those who have seen them. How did they put so much life into the animals that ran across those rocky walls? The artists of those paintings might have been the hunters, but more likely it would have been someone who possessed a particular talent for that art. Maybe a shaman. Or maybe a young boy who wanted to paint the animals rather than participate in the killing of them. Tao boldly leaves his people to follow what his heart tells him to do. The story is action-filled with interesting characters and a wonderful wolf-dog.

[Emma M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tao has always been different from the rest of his clan and being different can be incredibly dangerous. He feels the urge to create pictures and longs to become a cave painter. Unfortunately that is forbidden as he is not a direct descendent of the Chosen Ones and if he is discovered he could be killed. Graybeard, the current Shaman, discovers Tao's secret and begins to help Tao create pictures that come alive.

I love that this little novel examines, roots for, and celebrates the needs some of us have always had, the need to create, the need to question, and even rebel. I really loved this little novel and think it may be the best of the prehistoric bunch!

[Paige Teves · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Boy of the Painted Cave is about a 14-year-old boy 18,000 years ago in pre-historic France who is expected to be a bold and brave hunter but is passionate about painting and sees the beauty in the world around him. Much of his interests and morals are taboo amongst his clan, but he finds a way to appeal to the expectations of that society during that time while also finding time and space for his own goals. I read this because I am interested in using it as a novel study next year, and after reading it I am so excited to implement it in my classroom. It is a 3/5 only because I needed it to be more challenging of a read for myself personally, but I think the kiddos will love it.

[Kieren · Rating 3 out of 5]

My kids and I read this book as part of our homeschool course on ancient history. The book is well written, age appropriate, and gives a good look into the lives of early humans. I appreciated the variety of prehistoric animals and plants that were mentioned. This book also prompted a good discussion about the value of each human life, regardless of whether humans agree on its value or not.

For one child and me, the extremely detailed descriptions about painting were tedious. Two other children didn’t mind. The ending was unexpected and climactic. I would recommend this book to other homeschool families.

[Kaida46 (deb) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Children's story about a boy living in prehistoric times whose hearts desire is to be a great artist and draw stories on the cave walls instead of a be hunter like most men of his clan, because he uses a crutch to get around. Nice descriptions of his tribal life and the environment the boy lives in, action and adventure are included. A great story for the intended audience.

I read an excerpt of this in another book about children's literature when I was teaching, and was interested enough to actually buy the Painted Cave book and read it myself. Then I gave it to my grandson to read for a school book report because I knew it would hold his interest.

[Brandon Staples · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was not the best but still an intresting book. It is about a boy who finds a wolf and they become best friends. But the tribe he is from it is taboo or also known as evil to befriend a wolf. They are cnsidered evil. In this book the tribe constanly tries to kill the dog. I thought it was a good story plot but the part that bored me was the book always brought the characters to spots that were not that important to the story.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I see why teachers would choose this book for character analysis and as a solid classroom read. I feel like Ms. Paver’s “Chronicles of Ancient Darkness”did it better, but that book series was more mystical so maybe not what teachers are looking for with this topic.

This story of Tao’s coming of age, his journey to follow his dream of painting caves like his idol Greybeard, and his wolf-dog Ram was very sweet. It is a perfect one for 5th-6th grade readers.

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tao of the Valley People wants to be a cave painter, but it is forbidden by his clan unless you are the son of someone important like the chief. He is an orphan with a malformed foot. He is told about his mother, but not his dad. He secretly breaks several clan taboos in order to fulfill his destiny.

Great read for kids (both boys and girls like it). Also good for discussions.

[NoahK · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main character is very fierce and he is very brave to live by himself in the wilderness. He gets to learn a lot of things but also faces obstacle such as fighting the Samurai. He is fully exposed to the wild and enjoys hunting animals down. Along the way, he makes friends with a pet.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read it aloud to my class because we were studying pre-history. It wasn't bad. For an older book (published in 1988) there wasn't anything cringey. There were some good hunting scenes that some of my students loved. It went a little long at places, but overall it was a hit.

[Reyhaneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this to keep up with what my 6th graders were reading and loved it! Short, exciting, full of imagery of the Ice Age and kept me yearning for more. Will definitely be looking up more books about that period.

[Sheehan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decided to read any books my daughter is assigned that I didn't read when i was a kid, this book was the first assigned for middle school.

The story is interesting and it is a good fit mixture of early human lifestyle and art creation history written into a compelling coming of age narrative.

[Ranette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this pre-history book eventhough the animals were not consistent to the various continents. An abandoned boy, raised by an old woman wants to be a cave artist, but only those born to leaders are allowed to paint. Other interesting twists too.