Friday, October 16, 2009

The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush by Tomie dePaola

The Indian paintbrush flower blooms in reds, oranges, yellows, and pinks throughout the Midwest as it does at the end of this story. There are many tales about where the flower came from, and Tomie dePaola’s retelling of The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush is an especially captivating one.

Little Gopher is not like the other boys in his tribe. He’d rather draw pictures on rocks than run or ride horses of shoot bows. One day, as he and the other boys his age are nearing manhood, Little Gopher goes to the top of the mountain to think about what it means to be a man. There, he has a vision: one day he will paint a picture with colors as bright as the sky at sunset.

Little Gopher mixes colors and paints picture after picture. He can’t seem to get the colors right. Finally, he is called back up the mountain where all the colors he has ever needed are waiting for him.

This is a beautiful story with illustrations to match. I highly recommend it.

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1 comment:

-Miss V- said...

you have a fantastic blog! I hope you don't mind me posting your blog on mine! keep up the amazing work :) I plan on using your information about Egyptian art to help my grade fives for an art project! thanks!