Overview
"On the Medicine Painter's magic cloth you would live forever, " Spotted Deer tells his grandfather, Moose Horn. It is the day George Catlin, the famous painter of American Indians, comes to visit their village. Fearing the artist may take away his spirit, Moose Horn refuses to have his portrait made. But Catlin and the gift of a vision bring Moose Horn to a surprising decision. Full color.When Spotted Deer's grandfather dreams that one white man can keep the Indians from blowing away forever, Moose Horn agrees to let George Catlin paint his portrait.
Synopsis
"On the Medicine Painter's magic cloth you would live forever, " Spotted Deer tells his grandfather, Moose Horn. It is the day George Catlin, the famous painter of American Indians, comes to visit their village. Fearing the artist may take away his spirit, Moose Horn refuses to have his portrait made. But Catlin and the gift of a vision bring Moose Horn to a surprising decision. Full color.
Publishers Weekly
In this historical picture book, Littlesugar (Marie in Fourth Position) imagines a visit from the white portrait painter, George Catlin, to a Chippewa tribe in Minnesota in 1836. Catlin wishes to paint Moose Horn, but the once-famous warrior is resistant: "If I give my face to the Medicine Painter, he may take my spirit." After observing Catlin at his work, a prophetic dream visit from his younger self and a consultation with the Great Spirit, Manito, Moose Horn believes he can keep his spirit even if his likeness is on the painter's canvas. Young history buffs may be disappointed not to know more about the painter whose mission is to capture a Native American life that's changing "too fast even for the Medicine Painter's magic brushes," but Moose Horn's struggle to come to a decision is convincing. Less effective are deChristopher's (Deer in the Hollow) paintings; although true to Catlin's palette (a reproduction of one of Catlin's 1836 portraits appears in the foreword), the faces of the characters are inconsistent and the landscapes at times seem unfinished. The standout portrait is the one of George Catlin as Moose Horn observes the "sadness" in the white man's eyes. Still, this introduction serves a worthwhile purpose, as it will likely prompt children to find out more about a fascinating man and a disappearing way of life. Ages 7-11. (Sept.)
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
In this historical picture book, Littlesugar (Marie in Fourth Position) imagines a visit from the white portrait painter, George Catlin, to a Chippewa tribe in Minnesota in 1836. Catlin wishes to paint Moose Horn, but the once-famous warrior is resistant: "If I give my face to the Medicine Painter, he may take my spirit." After observing Catlin at his work, a prophetic dream visit from his younger self and a consultation with the Great Spirit, Manito, Moose Horn believes he can keep his spirit even if his likeness is on the painter's canvas. Young history buffs may be disappointed not to know more about the painter whose mission is to capture a Native American life that's changing "too fast even for the Medicine Painter's magic brushes," but Moose Horn's struggle to come to a decision is convincing. Less effective are deChristopher's (Deer in the Hollow) paintings; although true to Catlin's palette (a reproduction of one of Catlin's 1836 portraits appears in the foreword), the faces of the characters are inconsistent and the landscapes at times seem unfinished. The standout portrait is the one of George Catlin as Moose Horn observes the "sadness" in the white man's eyes. Still, this introduction serves a worthwhile purpose, as it will likely prompt children to find out more about a fascinating man and a disappearing way of life. Ages 7-11. (Sept.)Children's Literature -
Fitting and accurate pictures illustrate this quiet story by Amy Littlesugar. Marlowe deChristopher's paintings resemble the noted work of artist George Catlin, who visited with many tribes during the early part of the nineteenth century, recording the faces, clothes, rituals, work and everyday lives of Native Americans. This tale of a young Chippewa, Spotted Dear, anxious to have his grandfather's face preserved on Catlin's canvas, captures well an essence of the Woodland people, reflecting both the fear of losing spirits and the courage of facing a new world. Although not meant to be a biography of the famous painter, this story still may stir interest in his life and in the subjects of his work.School Library Journal
Gr 1-3A journey made in 1836 by the American artist George Catlin provides the framework of this story. A Chippewa boy, Spotted Deer, urges his grandfather to let Catlin paint his portrait, but the old man is reluctant. It is not until Moose Horn observes in Catlin the same sadness for the loss of the Indians' culture that he himself feels, and is prompted by a spirit visitation of himself as a young warrior, that he allows the artist to paint him. The idea that being painted can confer a kind of immortality is a concept perhaps too advanced for the primary graders who are the likeliest audience for this story. The elegiac mood of the text is reinforced by deChristopher's oil paintings, reminiscent of Thomas Locker's work. While some of the scenes are sketchily drawn, the faces of Catlin and Moose Horn, when they are shown in close-up, are beautifully portrayed, and the affection between the old man and the boy is evident. A foreword gives an outline of Catlin's life and mentions the author's own journey gathering material for this story. Mark Sufrin's George Catlin (1991) and Anne F. Rockwell's Paintbrush and Peacepipe (1971, both Atheneum; o.p.) are biographies for older children; Russell Freedman's An Indian Winter (Holiday, 1992), also for an older audience, is about another 19th-century painter of Indians, Karl Bodmer.Pam Gosner, formerly at Maplewood Memorial Library, NJKirkus Reviews
Littlesugar (Marie in Fourth Position, 1996, etc.) explains in a foreword how George Catlin's 19th-century paintings were innovative for recording Native American lives before the invasion of white culture, but not that his work was a forerunner to a new stereotype: the noble savage.Her picture book offers a sympathetic portrayal of how Catlin persuaded a warrior, Moose Horn, to pose for him. Spotted Deer tries to convince his grandfather to pose for the man called Medicine Painter, but Moose Horn fears that if he gives away his face, he may also lose his spirit. Gradually, as the old warrior observes Catlin painting, and subsequently has a vision, he realizes that the artist's ability to record a person's essence on canvas is of value, that Catlin might "keep us from blowing away forever." The book ends, fittingly, with a portrait of the warrior—by deChristopher. His illustrations blend in well with the one Catlin reproduction included, emulating the painter's style without distorting or overshadowing it. What's missing is a better understanding of Moose Horn's fear (what it is to "give away your face") and any fulfillment of Littlesugar's hint that Catlin was "less than perfect" as an artist and as a man. Without this information, the book is something of a whitewash—Catlin as the white hero who answers for the devastation brought upon Native American life.