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Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story
"Circle of Wonder centers upon a world that is so dear to me as to be engraved on my memory forever. I was a boy of twelve when my parents and I moved to Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico in 1946. . . . It was a place of singular beauty and wonder and delight. My first Christmas there was beyond my imagining. . . . The night sky was radiant; the silence was vast and serene. In all the years of my life I have not gone farther into the universe. I have not known better the essence of peace and the sense of eternity. I have come no closer to the understanding of the most holy."--N. Scott Momaday
44 pages, Hardcover
First published November 30, 1993
1 person is currently reading
163 people want to read
About the author
N. Scott Momaday
80 books575 followersN. Scott Momaday's baritone voice booms from any stage. The listener, whether at the United Nations in New York City or next to the radio at home, is transported through time, known as 'kairos"and space to Oklahoma near Carnegie, to the "sacred, red earth" of Momaday's tribe.
Born Feb. 27, 1934, Momaday's most famous book remains 1969's House Made of Dawn, the story of a Pueblo boy torn between the modern and traditional worlds, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and was honored by his tribe. He is a member of the Kiowa Gourd Dance Society. He is also a Regents Professor of Humanities at the University of Arizona, and has published other novels, memoir, plays and poetry. He's been called the dean of American Indian writers, and he has influenced other contemporary Native American writers from Paula Gunn Allen to Louise Erdrich.
Momaday views his writings, published in various books over the years, as one continuous story. Influences on his writing include literature of America and Europe and the stories of the Kiowa and other tribal peoples.
"Native Americans have a unique identity," Momaday told Native Peoples Magazine in 1998. "It was acquired over many thousands of years, and it is the most valuable thing they have. It is their essence and it must not be lost."
Momaday founded The Buffalo Trust in the 1990s to keep the conversations about Native American traditions going. He especially wanted to give Native American children the chance to getting to know elders, and he wanted the elders to teach the children the little details of their lives that make them uniquely Native American. Once the Buffalo Trust arranged for Pueblo children to have lesson from their elders in washing their hair with yucca root as their ancestors did for as long as anyone can remember.
"In the oral tradition," Momaday has said, "stories are not told merely to entertain or instruct. They are told to be believed. Stories are realities lived and believed."
Born Feb. 27, 1934, Momaday's most famous book remains 1969's House Made of Dawn, the story of a Pueblo boy torn between the modern and traditional worlds, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize and was honored by his tribe. He is a member of the Kiowa Gourd Dance Society. He is also a Regents Professor of Humanities at the University of Arizona, and has published other novels, memoir, plays and poetry. He's been called the dean of American Indian writers, and he has influenced other contemporary Native American writers from Paula Gunn Allen to Louise Erdrich.
Momaday views his writings, published in various books over the years, as one continuous story. Influences on his writing include literature of America and Europe and the stories of the Kiowa and other tribal peoples.
"Native Americans have a unique identity," Momaday told Native Peoples Magazine in 1998. "It was acquired over many thousands of years, and it is the most valuable thing they have. It is their essence and it must not be lost."
Momaday founded The Buffalo Trust in the 1990s to keep the conversations about Native American traditions going. He especially wanted to give Native American children the chance to getting to know elders, and he wanted the elders to teach the children the little details of their lives that make them uniquely Native American. Once the Buffalo Trust arranged for Pueblo children to have lesson from their elders in washing their hair with yucca root as their ancestors did for as long as anyone can remember.
"In the oral tradition," Momaday has said, "stories are not told merely to entertain or instruct. They are told to be believed. Stories are realities lived and believed."
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 18, 2017
Tolo has a warm and loving relationship with his grandfather, and when his grandfather dies, he misses him. One year Tolo's family are the patrons of the Christ child. After mass, the whole village will come in a procession to honor the statue of the Christ child and to feast at Tolo's home. As mass ends, Tolo is certain he sees his grandfather. He begins to follow him, but can't catch up to him. He continues following until he is deep in the mountains and smells and sees fire. He invites one animal after another to "please share with me the real gift of this fire." They create a circle of wonder.
The story is unusual but beautiful and the illustrations are filled with much of the same beauty and wonder as the story.
The story is unusual but beautiful and the illustrations are filled with much of the same beauty and wonder as the story.
July 13, 2009
Interesting Christmas story in the Native American tradition. I think young children might have trouble understanding the symbolism in this one without some explanation, but I liked it. Colorful and interesting illustrations too.
July 25, 2017
I did not know N. Scott Momaday had lived on Jemez Pueblo as a child. I visited there once...not for Christmas, which is the time setting here. But we visited during the Corn Festival...we watched some of the dancing, participated in the celebration, and with our group, were invited into a family home to share in the meal. I remember so many details of that day, and I brought them all with me as I read this sweet, gentle story of a young boy who misses his grandfather, even as he carries on the traditions of his village and family.
The story is told in the voice of the young Momaday...so the wonder and pride shine through as he and his family host the Baby Jesus during the Christmas festival...even as he mourns the loss of his beloved grandpa.
A gentle story that could inspire many discussions of family and cultural traditions, and a glimpse into the experiences that helped mold this national treasure of a man.
The story is told in the voice of the young Momaday...so the wonder and pride shine through as he and his family host the Baby Jesus during the Christmas festival...even as he mourns the loss of his beloved grandpa.
A gentle story that could inspire many discussions of family and cultural traditions, and a glimpse into the experiences that helped mold this national treasure of a man.
November 26, 2020
I have to admit, I LOVE N. Scott Momaday. I don't mean love as in a celebrity crush sort of way but in a "he's a beloved member of my family who I would drop anything to go and visit" sort of way. I was blessed enough to get to meet him at the Dayton Literary Peace Prize last year where he won the Holbrooke Award.
When I listen to him, I hear the mountains speak, and when I was in his presence, I felt the warmth of the love of all of those who have come before me. This sounds cliche and melodramatic but he is that extraordinary.
Circle of Wonder is a beautiful picture book that tells the story of Tolo, and his grandfather and the wondrous beauty of the entire earth's celebration of the miracle of Christmas. The art is magnificent and I know that I will see and feel something new in it every time I read it, which I imagine will be hundreds and hundreds of times throughout my lifetime.
When I listen to him, I hear the mountains speak, and when I was in his presence, I felt the warmth of the love of all of those who have come before me. This sounds cliche and melodramatic but he is that extraordinary.
Circle of Wonder is a beautiful picture book that tells the story of Tolo, and his grandfather and the wondrous beauty of the entire earth's celebration of the miracle of Christmas. The art is magnificent and I know that I will see and feel something new in it every time I read it, which I imagine will be hundreds and hundreds of times throughout my lifetime.
March 24, 2022
Momaday’s beautiful, vibrant Expressionist art of swirled and blended primary colors accompanies a touching Christmas story, packed with Momaday’s tangible, sensory images of holiday village life and the surrounding wilderness.
The mountains were covered with snow, and the dark timber seemed to stand upon the slopes like a gathering of old men, huddled and quiet.
Part dream, part quiet village celebration, part memory of a mute boy who follows his beloved dead grandfather’s spirit to a bonfire in a meadow where his loneliness is relieved while he shares “the real gift of this fire” with wolf, elk, and eagle, each wounded from being preyed upon, yet able to sit together in peace with the boy who cannot speak except in his dreams.
The mountains were covered with snow, and the dark timber seemed to stand upon the slopes like a gathering of old men, huddled and quiet.
Part dream, part quiet village celebration, part memory of a mute boy who follows his beloved dead grandfather’s spirit to a bonfire in a meadow where his loneliness is relieved while he shares “the real gift of this fire” with wolf, elk, and eagle, each wounded from being preyed upon, yet able to sit together in peace with the boy who cannot speak except in his dreams.
September 6, 2008
This book is about a boy named toll who is a mute. He has lost his grandfather whom he would visit. Now he is feeling very lonely and in his loneliness he finds something great. I liked the moral of the story but the way it was written was not an easy reader and hard to keep the interest of children.
August 27, 2016
Sweet story.
December 6, 2016
The rather mystical experience of a young mute Native American child on Christmas. The story and the pictures both lend themselves to discussion. What did you see? What did he see?
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews