School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-6-The mound builders are among the most mysterious of Native American groups. Flourishing between 800 and 1400 C.E., their center was the great city of Cahokia, located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Based on recent research and illustrated with both archival photos and historically accurate drawings, this oversized volume brings their civilization to life via a fictional trip to Cahokia. Little Hawk lives in a stockaded village of wigwams near the shores of Lake Erie. An especially good harvest of furs means a trading journey, and the men decide to take their families with them. Thus, the boy takes a canoe trip down the Sciolo River to the great Ohio to the Mississippi and then north. The engaging pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations are detailed in composition, giving readers much to look at and to absorb. The four pages of photos of artifacts pale in comparison, though they certainly add interest. The story is compelling and instructs simultaneously. An author's note gives factual information on the Cahokia site. Reminiscent of Holling C. Holling's classic Paddle-to-the-Sea (Houghton, 1941) in story line, size, and pictorial style, this book is sure to be popular with students interested in Native American life or archaeology, and it will also draw those who just like a good story. Excellent historical information, perfectly packaged to move.-Ann Welton, Grant Elementary School, Tacoma, WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Gr. 2-4. The excitement of a small boy going on a long journey to the big city with his family is captured in a fascinating picture book for older children, but here the destination is a civilization probably unfamiliar to most young readers. The great mound city of Cahokia in what is now Illinois was one of the largest urban centers at its height (the early fourteenth century, when it was bigger than London). Little Hawk and his family travel the Mississippi river with furs and other goods to trade in Cahokia. The two-month journey is not uneventful, but the arrival is even more exciting: the huge population, the buildings of clay with thatched roofs, the platform mounds. Farming tools, and carved and artfully sculpted containers become objects to trade for. The oversize format allows for chock-full paintings, and Lorenz stresses in an informative author's note that the detailed, colorful images showing clothing, tattoos, household objects, homes, and canoes are as accurate as possible. --GraceAnne DeCandido Copyright 2004 Booklist
