THE WONDERFUL SKY BOAT

Tales from various Southeastern tribes are nicely retold in this collection of 28 stories of creation, caution, how, and why. Each is attributed in its title (and in the table of contents) to its tribe, including Catawba, Chitimacha, Creek, and Tunica and brief historical notes on each tribe are included in the About the Storytellers section, after which Curry (Turtle Island, 1998, etc.) provides sources. She does not describe how she has retold these stories, only that they are retold, sometimes based on more than one version, and sometimes with new titles. The stories are clearly Curry’s, as they have a unified voice, and use a Anglicized style of dialogue that will feel natural to most readers, but the content and message seem to be accurate. They vary slightly in length, but are all fairly short; full-page black-and-white illustrations break up the text, if they don’t add much to the tales. Curry’s voice is rhythmic and humorous, making these stories perfect to tell aloud, and readers will find this collection useful for its specificity. (Folklore. 8+)