13 Moons on Turtles Back

For my first teacher recommended book I read "13 Moons on Turtles Back" it was Recommended by Shawn Morgan who teaches 4th and 5th grade at Springport Elementary School. The book is written in prose and is full of Native American folktales. This book is really special as it is one that I explicitly remember from my childhood and after rereading it, its still just as great as I remember it being. Each page details the legend of each moon of the year as according to old Native American legend accompanied by a beautiful illustration. The legend begins with a grandfather explaining to his grandson that there are 13 moons in the year just as there are 13 squares on a turtles shell. He then proceeds to tell a story about each moon. The stories are all very clever and interesting and the illustrations are in my opinion mind blowing. Each portrays a stunning epic nature scene. The writing style of the author flows very nicely and includes many Native American words and phrases adding to the richness of the text. The passages all feel very meaningful and sincere and really create a sense of wonder and make you respect the amount of thought that Native Americans gave to everything they observed. When reading this book it really makes you look at the natural world from a new perspective. The book is full of stories of creation and how everything in nature came to be from the moons, to different animals, to the seasons, to mankind all according to Native American legends. The fact that the story is set as if it is a grandfather telling it to his grandson also makes it feel more genuine and as if someone is telling you a story from memory. It also really makes you respect what amazing story tellers Native Americans were and how impressive it was that everything they kept track of was by memory as there are very few written records. I really love this book and reading it again brought back memories from childhood when my mom used to read it to my siblings and I. Between the beautiful illustrations and the wonderful stories this book is really great.