A Heart Full of Turquoise: Pueblo Indian Tales

Book Review:

In A Heart Full of Turquoise, Joe Hayes retells several old Pueblo Indian tales. These unique and vibrant stories can stand alone or as a part of a collection. The tales retold are short and easy to read aloud. They have the ability to engage students. The illustrations for these tales allow for imagination and interpretation. They are perfect for this collection of the Pueblo Indian tales.

One of the best tales in this collection is "Frog & Locust," a creative retake on how we have come to understand the Indian rain dance. The characters take the form of small critters that change the life of the desert canyon inhabitants from a dry wilting place into a wet and flourishing valley.

"Frog & Locust"

Joe Hayes spins a fantastic retake on an old Pueblo Indian tale - where the heart of the desert canyon, the little critters that live with in its walls, and the mystery of the rain come creatively crashing together. With his cleaver words, Hayes begins his story with one small frog that realizes that his small habitat is slowly shriveling away because there has not been any rain to fill up his pond. He tries to cry his rain song to that Rain God, who lives high upon on the mountain, but his little voice is not quite strong enough to reach way up there. He soon realizes he is not alone - for all the critters that live in the canyon will die if the rain does not come. The locusts soon join in the rain song as well as many other frogs, and together the one small rain song turns into a great big rain song. The Rain God hears their cries and climbs to the top of the mountain where the rain starts to come down and fill the canyon with life once again. This charming story comes to a close with a cleaver look at why people today gather together and sing rain songs to help save their dry and dying fields. This truly is a warm and fun-loving tale.

Set in the American Southwest, the illustrator shares three small pictures with her audience. These pictures are captured by simple pencil drawings that are stenciled in with turquoise blue. The illustrations allow the reader to imagine more than what is given. This book introduces a creative flare of writing that can be explored in the classroom with students. It would be a wonderful prompt for a creative writing unit where children make up their own folktales.

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