Flower Tumbles

by Robert M. Walton, Art Salvagno (Illustrator)

The Esselen Tribe lived in Monterey County near the headwaters of the Arroyo Seco River for many thousands of years. As with most of California's Native Americans, their way of life disappeared - along with most of them - in the 19th Century. This story is set before the great disruptions and offers a glimpse of Esselens as they once were. Its unlikely hero is a young boy who confronts one of the greatest dangers to his small tribe - an engraged grizzly bear.

This story is available on Kindle unlimited.

Flower Tumbles won the Salinas Californian’s 1981 John Steinbeck Award for best fiction.

Art Salvagno and I had a great time working on this story back in 1981 and again when we revised it in 1995. Ed Haskell offered patient and indispensible service in creating this Kindle edition. Sadly, we had to lose some of Art’s great double-page illustrations when converting the story to the required format. We’ll tinker with our effort in coming months and try to wedge some of the drawings back in - I promise!

30 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

I am a retired teacher with thirty-six years of service. I'm also a rock climber and mountaineer. I've climbed extensively in Yosemite and the Sierras, but my home crags are in Pinnacles National Park. My writing about climbing has been published in "Ascent" and other mountaineering publications.

I'm an experienced writer. My "Dogwood Dream" won the 2011 New Millennium short fiction competition and two of my stories have been published by the Kids Book Review. My Civil War novel "Dawn Drums" was awarded First Place in the Arizona Authors Association's 2014 literary contest. Judges of the 2014 New Mexico Book Awards gave it the Tony Hillerman Award for best fiction.

Reviews

[Marilee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Walton is a great story teller. Flower Tumbles is the story about a small Indian boy who saves his village from the attack of a grizzly bear. The tale is rich in detail and local geography.

This story is written for all ages, but adventurous enough to hold the attention of children. He captures the Indian culture of the time and teaches that true courage and bravery can't be rushed. It comes at its own time.

[Glen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Bear, Rolly Polely Boy

When I started reading this story I wasn't sure what to expect. I mean an old white guy writing about a chubby native American boy...what could he really say? But Walton has a talent for telling coming of age stories that capture the angst and triumph that only happens during that uncertain time of transition from child trying to be more to the more confident young maturing youth. This is one of those stories. I enjoyed this quick read!