Moonstick: The Seasons of the Sioux – A Glorious Picture Book About Growing Up in a Native American Tribe for Children (Ages 4-8) (Trophy Picture Books

by Eve Bunting, John Sandford (Illustrator)

My father cuts
a moon-counting stick
that he keeps in our tipi.
At the rising of the first moon
he makes a notch in it.
"A new beginning
for the young buffalo,"
he says.
"And for us." In this beautifully written story by acclaimed author Eve Bunting, a young boy comes of age under the thirteen moons of the Sioux year. With each notch in his father's moon-counting stick, the boy marvels at the world around him, observing the sometimes subtle, sometimes remarkable changes in the seasons and in his own tribe's way of living. With rich and carefully researched paintings by artist John Sandford, The Seasons of the Sioux is a glorious picture book about one boy's journey toward manhood.

Genres: Picture Books, Poetry, Native American, Childrens, Cultural, Historical Fiction, School

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

About the author

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a superbly illustrated picture book of the Sioux year as told in short moon descriptions.
A young Sioux boy is waiting to be grown up enough to hunt with his father, and observes and learns their traditions. His father cuts a stick - a moonstick - on which he makes a notch for each new moon, 13 in all, in a year. Each moon is described and gorgeously illustrated in this book - such as Moon of the Thunderstorms. They planned their lives by the moons.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautifully illustrated children's book - tells the story of the way that the Sioux Indians track the passing of the seasons by marking off the 13 months on a counting stick. Each page tells of the next month - named for the activities that mark the season. The pictures in this one were my favorite thing about the book - the words were a bit stilted in a few places.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most notable about this growing up book is how it introduces readers to the traditional Sioux way of marking each new month in a baby's life: literally marking time with a new cut on that child's moon-counting stick; a stick kept in the family tipi.

Readers learn the names of different months (moons), such as "Moon of the Yellow Leaves" and "Moon of the Falling Leaves."

It's a lovely book, well plotted and honest, very human. I consider it social justice to have this kind of history available in picture books, especially a book that doesn't reveal horrors that could have been narrated but instead, true and thought-provoking details about life for the community being celebrated in that book.

That bittersweet ending is just intense enough, and (to this Goodreader), it's appropriate to share with picture book readers.

Definitely a FIVE STAR book.

[charlene.librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

The paintings by John Sandford are exquisite. The two-page spreads evoke the life of the Sioux through the seasons with respect and dignity, but there is a sadness, too, at the end of the book because the way of life has not endured. "Our lives are different now./My eldest brother works in a barbershop./His hair is white as winter snows./My wife does beadwork/and I make headdresses of feathers/ that sell well./We do not hunt."

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and celebration of old and new traditions.

[Shea Lavalier]

• Interest Level: Lower Grades
• Reading Level: 2.8
• Guided Reading Level: O
• Genre: Picture Books
• Support for the genre: The illustrations on each page correspond with the segment of text. Visualizing for the reader what is happening in the text.
• Additional Genres: Poetry

Summary:
Author Eve Bunting takes the reader through the seasons and traditions of the Sioux. The story follows a young boy learning about counting the days based on the moon through notches on a stick. Traditions and beliefs are shared with the reader to help them understand their culture. The end laments how the Sioux culture has changed and how the boy has kept with traditions.

Mentor Writing Traits:
Ideas:
This book has a general theme of Sioux cultural traditions and brings contemporary culture and the idea of preserving culture in at the end.
Organization:
This book uses a sequence of seasons to organize the content. Each season incorporates different cultural traditions.
Voice: The voice is of a young boy sharing his experiences with the reader. The voice is expressive and captures the young boys learning of culture along with the readers.
Word Choice:
Key words used in native culture are used throughout, thunder, drum, moccasins, hide, etc.
Sentence Fluency:
The sentences are written similar to that of a poem, there are fragments to intentionally create a more culturally responsive book.
Conventions:
Even though this book utilizes a poem set up, punctuation and capital letters are used correctly. Capital letters are also used to emphasize aspects of native culture such as capitalizing “Great Spirit.”
Presentation:
The font is clearly readable with an image of the moonstick and notches following the title of the poem on each page. The colors are earthy and dull which enhances the cultural elements of the book.

Classroom Integration and other suggestions:
This book would be good to introduce during a poetry unit. Students could write a poem responding to a theme to create a collaborative book of poems. This book could also help teach Native culture, or at different seasonal shifts throughout the school year.

[Taya · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was extremely informative about the Sioux culture as it pertained to their calendar and various major events throughout the year. Because of this, it would be very educational to children, especially those who were not familiar with Native American culture. The dialogue seemed slightly choppy in some areas which made the flow slightly disrupted as it was being read. The effect of placing the sticks with the notches for each month was a very nice tough within the dialogue boxes. This touch brought each page together and gave the book a sense of continuity which was very helpful in drawing the story together.

[Andrew Schoenfelder]

The colors in this book are really soft and sensitive resembling the Native Americans culture and heritage. The pictures seem to be water colors or paintings with the perfect blend of colors. Every page has a white box that provides the text; otherwise the whole page is covered in artwork leaving no empty space throughout the whole book. Most of the characters and background have a vertical line scheme used by the illustrator.

[Liliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this story, a boy describes the different changes of the moon. The different changes of the moon are a big part of a Sioux Indian's life, every new moon marks a new step of him growing up. This lets him know that every new moon, he can do more things like hunt and dance. The moonstick is used to count everytime a new moon comes (in the spring). This is a great story to use when talking about changes of the moon or growing up.

[Lana Clifton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a coming of age story, in dedication to the Sioux native to Georgia soil. Each page turns with the mark of a stick-- a journey to manhood. Each page turns with the passing of seasons-- the rising and falling of the moon. The young boy grows up, preserving his cultural heritage in a changing world. This book is a good literacy component for social studies exploring native tribes in Georgia (2nd grade).

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful pictures that carry the story. Shows Native American culture and values. At the end it changes due to the white man. I like Cheyenne Again better for a read aloud, but would make this book available for students' silent reading time.

[Laree Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book! It's about a young Sioux Indian describes the different events of the moons and how times have changed when he is older.

[Christie Suh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young Sioux Indian describes the different events of the moons and how times have changed when he is older.

[Aspasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I enjoyed this more than my son did. At age 4, this might be too over his head.

[Mckinley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Names for various types of moons.
See: Thirteen moons on turtle's back : a Native American year of moons by J Bruchac and Long Night Moon by C Rylant.

[Lindsey Hapeman]

published: 2000

This book is about a father who keeps a "moon stick" in his teepee. According to the father, he needs to make a mark in the moon stick for every full moon. when he does this, his son becomes very interested in this and the moon and its different phases