Crazy Horse: Young War Chief

by George E. Stanley

Childhood of Famous Americans
One of the most popular series ever published for young Americans, these classics have been praised alike by parents, teachers, and librarians. With these lively, inspiring, fictionalized biographies -- easily read by children of eight and up -- today's youngster is swept right into history.

Genres: Biography, History

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

George Edward Stanley was born in Memphis, Texas on July 15, 1942. He received a bachelor's degree in 1965 and a master's degree in 1967 from Texas Tech University. He earned his Doctor Litterarum in African Linguistics in 1974 from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. He lived all over Europe and Africa, studying and teaching foreign languages, working for the U.S. government, and writing books for young people and adults. He started writing fiction while a Fulbright professor in Chad, Central Africa, where about the only diversion he found available was listening to the BBC on his short wave radio. That led to his writing radio plays for a program called World Service Short Story. Three of his plays were eventually produced. After writing and publishing over 200 short stories in American, British, Irish, and South African magazines and linguistics articles in major international journals, he started writing books. He wrote over 100 fiction and non-fiction books for young people including The Katie Lynn Cookie Company series and the Adam Sharp series. He also wrote under the pseudonyms of M. T. Coffin, Franklin W. Dixon, Laura Lee Hope, Carolyn Keene, Adam Mills, and Stuart Symons. He was a professor of African and Middle-Eastern languages and linguistics in the department of foreign languages at Cameron University. He died from a ruptured aneurysm on February 7, 2011 at the age of 68.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 4 out of 5]

We picked this up in the gift shop at the Little Big Horn Monument and it was the perfect read for me to share with my grandson. It fit right in with the homeschool history unit he is working on. For me it was a timely read since we were just traveling through the Black Hills where the Crazy Horse Monument continues to make progress toward completion -- estimated to be 2037.

After we finished, J and I both compared our favorite chapters as part of our discussion of the read. For J it was "The Raid on Conquering Bear's Camp" when a 10-year-old Crazy Horse (he went by Curly at that time) along with his "koka" Hump and little brother Little Hawk practice their warrior skills and discover a neighboring camp needs help. My favorite was "The Special Bow" in which a very young Crazy Horse (Curly) finds ways to sharpen his bow and arrow skills so that his father (the current Crazy Horse) will give him a bow of his own.

As a young reader I absolutely loved this series and read all the titles I could get ahold of. It is a joy to share these newer volumes with my grandson.

[Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sawyer enjoyed it

[Andrea M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this novel and then read other books about the Lakota Sioux origin and history. I noticed that the novel was accurate in describing the events that occurred in Crazy Horse's life. It was also objective in carefully withholding blame for events that had a negative impact on the tribe. Crazy Horse was hero because he was true to his vision and worked unselfishly to protect and provide for the tribe throughout his life. In the book he felt great remorse when he killed a woman. He returns to his village to find the inhabitants massacred and at another time comes upon a native american encampment where the inhabitants have all died of a mysterious illness. The author describes these tragic events thoughtfully and without including a lot of disturbing details.

[Deanna Sutter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The kids loved this book! This discusses the life of a young warrior-Crazy Horse. This is from his perspective so I appreciated his view point. The book is full of anti-white man talk however. It made for excellent discussion with the kids though.

I really enjoy this series. My kids always leave felling like they actually know the person from history and they remember that person also.

[Lorelle Kdisnet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book I read with my kids. It would be difficult to be a leader in a time of change and turmoil like Crazy Horse was. It was a losing battle trying to maintain there old way of life against the influx of the whiteman, yet he remained true to himself and to the vision he received.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting account of Crazy Horse's life. I learned a lot and it gave me some new things to think about the Indians.

[Caleb · Rating 4 out of 5]

I Liked crazy horse

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked it. It's interesting.

[LauraJeanHall · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is recommended reading by teachers on Pine Ridge Reservation. It’s not the most accurate portrayal but it’s the best one for kids right now. Highly recommend it.

[Tammi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, informative read. Good way to spark interest.

[Rosa Cline]

3 star