Vivian and the Legend of the Hoodoos

by Terry Catasús Jennings, Phyllis Saroff (Illustrator)

Overview

Long ago, the Old Ones were bad. They drank all the water, ate all the pine nuts, and left nothing for the other creatures. Sinawav the coyote punished them by turning them into rocky hoodoos. Now when children misbehave, their Paiute elders remind them that they too could be turned into stone columns! Vivian has heard the stories, but this year as she and her grandmother climb the mesa to pick pine nuts, Vivian has something more important on her mind: basketball tryouts. When Vivian is disrespectful to the trees and the land, her grandmother must remind Vivian of the legend of the hoodoos and how nature has made it possible for her people to live.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781628559576
Publisher:	Arbordale Publishing
Publication date:	02/10/2017
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	214,661
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2017
Gr 1–3–Vivian and her grandmother are harvesting pine nuts as they have every year, but this year Vivian is impatient. Basketball tryouts are in a few hours, and to save time, she begins to throw the cones carelessly into her bucket instead of asking the trees for their permission to be picked. Vivian is reminded of the legend of the hoodoos, the tall rock columns who had been bad and turned to rock as a result. Vivian's grandmother reminds her of the many ways the land has helped them and their ancestors, and of why they should always respect their environment. An informative section on Paiute culture and history, weathering and erosion, and hoodoos is included. Beautiful illustrations and clear text make this accessible to young readers. VERDICT Recommended for most picture book collections.—Selenia Paz, Helen Hall Library, League City, TX

School Library Journal

2016-12-06
Paiute protagonist Vivian tries to find a way to connect her people's traditions with the modern world. No longer a little girl, preteen Vivian questions Grandma's insistence on gathering pine nuts in the time-consuming traditional way. Basketball try-outs will start in three hours, and she hopes to make the team. Besides, Vivian already knows the story of how Sinawav the coyote punished the Old Ones for their greed by changing them into rocky hoodoos. From science class, she also knows that erosion has formed the stone columns. Grandma understands the science too, but she still insists they gather in the traditional Paiute way. When Vivian practices basketball shots with the pine cones, Grandma turns this lack of respect into a learning opportunity. She leads Vivian to the site of an ancestral village and shows her a pottery sherd, a bone awl, and obsidian chips, and explains how they were used. Through this experience, Vivian gains a deeper understanding of how their Paiute ancestors respected the interdependence of all creatures. Jennings' carefully crafted text weaves a lyrical story that blends the present with the rich heritage of the Paiute culture. She also includes comprehensive backmatter that offers parents and teachers historical and scientific facts. Saroff's luminous use of color and her attention to details complement the story, though her photorealistic humans sometimes appear rather stiff. A story that honors both tradition and its young protagonist's desire to live in the present. (bibliography) (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews