AMERICAN SLAVE, AMERICAN HERO

Sticking closely to historical records and current scholarship, Pringle follows up Dog of Discovery: A Newfoundland’s Adventures with Lewis and Clark (2002) with this handsome tribute to Clark’s near-lifelong companion and slave. Carefully noting where details are scant or absent, he traces York’s early years, significant role in the expedition that is “still considered the greatest in United States history,” and later unhappy experiences. Nearly always easily identifiable as the tallest figure in sight, York can be followed from childhood to maturity in the grand watercolor illustrations as he grows up with Clark, takes an active role in providing food for the expedition and coping with emergencies, clowns with laughing Arikara children and strikes a final heroic pose at the end. Rich in eye-opening observations—Pringle notes, for instance, that when the expedition took a vote, both York and Sacagawea participated—this study joins Rhoda Blumberg’s York’s Adventures with Lewis and Clark (2004) atop the teetering stack of Lewis and Clark titles. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-11)