Sitting Bull: Dakota Boy is the next installment in the Childhood of Famous Americans series.
Sitting Bull was admired by friends and enemies alike for his courage, strength, intelligence, and humanity. A great Sioux chief, he fought to preserve his people's homeland and way of life from the encroachment of the white man.
These books remind me of my elementary school years. I used to LOVE reading these simple little biographies. Guess I still do! :)
The neatest part ofmthismstory about admitting Bull's childhood was the type of punishment he received from his father one time. He was forbidden to talk about the subject that he MOST wanted to discuss. He obeyed. Such honor, simplicity, courage, and obedience while at the same time love, laughter, and fun among the Indians.
I remember when my mom gave me and my brothers books from this series to read I labored through this one because it was about a boy and I somehow thought any story with a boy main character was boring
When Sitting Bull was a kid, he found white men. A chief wanted white men be held captive in a white tent. But Sitting Bull held the white man's hand who saved his life. When Sitting Bull became a chief he wanted white men to be friends in his camp.
We read this for homeschool history. Overall, it was well-written and engaging for my kids. There are some offensive words (squaw, for one), that I changed as I read it aloud.
This is from my 8-year-old son, "The Indians didn't like the white people. I learned that Sitting Bull's name was Jumping Badger before it got changed to Sitting Bull. I learned some of the customs the Sioux people had. There was a boy eleven years old. He would have a talk with his dad in the teepee. Then the medicine man would come in. He would take him some place out on the prairie and the boy would have to stay out there alone on the prairie for a few days without eating. It was a test of courage so he could see if he could stand going hungry without eating for a few days. It was also a test of courage to see if he could stay calm and dream out on the prairie with buffalos and other wild animals out on the prairie that could attack him at anytime.
Sitting Bull was a good man. He kept his people from starving. On every buffalo hunt he made buffalos sit. If you are hunting and shoot them in the hind legs, they sit. They use the buffalos for a lot of things, including their skins for blankets and their meat for food."
I admit to not knowing much about this admiral man, but I had a lot more respect and appreciation for his life after this book.Great for children to get that glimpse!