Kunu's Basket

K-Gr 2—Kunu is a Penobscot boy who lives on Indian Island in Maine. The men in his family have always been basketmakers, and he is attempting to learn the craft. His first efforts are not successful, and his frustration grows. Eventually he accepts help from his grandfather and, with his patient encouragement, the child at last produces his first basket. It is refreshing to have a story that reflects both contemporary Indian life and also presents the importance of carrying on traditions and learning from older generations. However, the story is very slow paced and verges on the didactic. The illustrations have a misty quality that in some way contradicts the fact that this is a here-and-now story. Still, they are well composed with small inserts on the sides of each spread that show an empty basket on the left and that basket filled with berries, clams, ferns, etc. on the right, the contents being observed by native wildlife. This is an important story as it helps to fill a gap in books reflecting and respectful of contemporary Native American life, but it's not an essential purchase otherwise.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ