Allen Sockabasin's THANKS TO THE ANIMALS
My family in New Mexico is among those coping with a huge snowfall. My
sister says there's two feet outside her door. They're in northern New
Mexico, at Nambe Pueblo. Winter has definitely arrived there, with two
huge snowfalls in a week's time. Allan Sockabasin's story sounds
perfect for my nieces and nephews. Beverly Slapin's review of Thanks
to the Animals is below. It may not be published elsewhere without her
written permission.
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Sockabasin, Allen (Passamaquoddy), Thanks to the Animals, illustrated
by Rebekah Raye. Tillbury House, 2005. Unpaginated, color
illustrations; all grades.
Winter arrives, as a Passamaquoddy family prepares for the trip north
to the deep woods of Maine, their winter home. Everyone helps as they
dismantle their house and tie down the cedar logs and everything else
they need--canoe, food, clothing, baskets--on the bobsled, making sure
there is enough room for the children to ride in the back. As Papa Joo
Tum drives the horses and Mama and the older children settle in for
the long ride, nestling together in the warmth of their sealskin coats
and patchwork blankets, they don't notice that little Zoo Sap has
tumbled off the sled.
Alerted by Zoo Sap's cries, the animals of the forest--large and
small--come together to keep him warm until Papa Joo Tum comes to get
him. Joo Tum thanks the animals, one by one, and carries little Zoo
Sap--none the worse for wear--back to his family. This quiet, gentle
story is enhanced by the warm, watercolor-and-ink paintings, my
favorite of which shows little Zoo Sap contentedly and "safely
sleeping in a great pile of warm animals." Thanks to the Animals, with
Passamoquoddy names for the animals in the back, is a perfect bedtime
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