Circle of Wonder: A Native American Christmas Story

by N. Scott Momaday

Overview

"The boy, the bird, and the beasts made a circle of wonder and good will around the real gift of fire, and beyond them were other wider circles, made of the meadow, the mountains, and the starry sky, all the fires and processions, all the voices and silences of all the world. . . . His spirit wheeled above the great meadow and the mountains, his loneliness was borne with the wild strength of a great elk, and he sang of his whole being with a voice that carried like the cry of a wolf."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826367396
Publisher:	University of New Mexico Press
Publication date:	08/01/2024
Pages:	44
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.00(d)
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

N. Scott Momaday (1934-2023) was a writer, poet, storyteller, and illustrator who won the Pulitzer Prize for his first novel, House Made of Dawn. Kiowa by way of Jemez Pueblo, he was the author of the classic Kiowa origin story The Way to Rainy Mountain and several books of poetry, including In the Bear's House, In the Presence of the Sun, and Again the Far Morning (all from UNM Press).

Editorial Reviews

Drawing on childhood memories of Christmas in a New Mexican village, Momaday produces a poetic story that skillfully blends Christian and Native American traditions. On Christmas Eve, Tolo, a lonely mute boy, is drawn by the spirit of his beloved grandfather to a bonfire in the mountains, where he shares a ``circle of wonder and good will'' with an elk, a wolf and an eagle. His heart fills with love for his family, for the Christ child and for all creation, and in this brief glimpse of the interconnectedness of all life his loneliness is banished forever. Features Momaday's singular, impressionistic artwork. All ages. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Both story and illustrations in this wonderful book sprang from Pulitzer Prize-winning Momaday's remembrances of his childhood on the Jemez Reservation, particularly during the Christmas season. He tells the story of a young mute named Tolo who shares the spirituality of the mountains and meadows with his grandfather. Upon his grandfather's death, Tolo plunges into loneliness. The frenzy of the Christmas season reawakens him, and Tolo follows the vision of his late grandfather back into the meadow where he is empowered by other creatures of the wild. Tolo transcends his own sorrow to understand the Christmas spirit.

Bloomsbury Review

A truly beautiful book, by a great author. . . . Every youngster (and oldster!) will be enthralled by the paintings of Momaday (Kiowa, by way of Jemez) and his tale of a Pueblo Christmas.

Book Talk