My review:
This book tells the tale of Benny, the smallest boy in 5th grade and scouting. He is bullied by another boy who is much bigger and popular. The boys go on a Scout trip which results in Benny hiding from the other boys in a cave where he cannot be seen. Benny discovers an inner cave that seems to be inhabited. This leads to the discovery of a boy named Little Bear and friendship and growth emerge.
I liked this book because Little Bear teaches Benny about another culture as he shares food and life skills with him. Benny learns to be confident through the help of Little Bear and his family. He learns that friendships go both ways and that different people can learn from each other.
In the end, Benny can stand up to his bully.
Although this book is a work of fiction, I learned a little about the real native nation, the Lenape of which Little Beaver was from. This is a nation that I was unfamiliar with and the book compelled me to learn about them as I am sure it would children reading the book.
The illustrations in this book were dark browns, muted reds and yellows. The characters faces were either non-existent, which played on a pseudo dream sequence throughout the book, or exaggerated to still not give facial features.
I did think the book ended abruptly but this did not take away from the overall feel and messages of the story.
It is my hope that children who may get the chance to read the book get the running themes. I give this book 4 stars.
Disclosure: I purchased a copy of this book for my own collections. The views here are 100% my own and may differ from yours. ~Naila Moon
NOTE: As with all books, I research on Amazon and Goodreads to give credit to the author where credit is due. I was only able to find this book on Amazon but there was no photo of the book or author, no summary was attached and can only be purchased through third parties. The book was apparently a "spotlight book" that were created as part of the Macmillan-McGraw-Hill instructional books to teach vocabulary. This is unfortunate as the book should now be in the hands of children in the new millennium. My review will still be able to be found on Amazon.
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