Mato the Bear and Devil's Tower: A Retelling of a Lakota Legend

by Michael O'Hearn (Retold by), Roberta Collier-Morales (Illustrator)

Overview

Two young Lakota warriors set out on an adventure. When they run into Mato the giant bear, something unexpected happens. Find out how this Lakota legend explains the creation of Devil's Tower.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666312096
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	08/01/2021
Series:	Read-It! Readers: Legends
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Michael O'Hearn published his first book in 2007, a graphic novel following the story of Henry Ford as he built the Model T automobile. He has since published many other books and continues to write both nonfiction and fiction. Michael lives in Connecticut with his wife, Karen, his daughter, Kendal, and her stuffed kitty, Meowy. When he's not busy writing, he likes to write and record songs, work on cars, trim bonsai trees, and read.

Editorial Reviews

K-Gr 2–The books in this level of the series claim to present “more challenging ideas, a broad vocabulary range, and expanded sentence structure.” Sword in the Stone and Golden Arrow are choppy. The more complex sentence structures implement the use of simple words effectively but, when interspersed with the many short sentences, result in a disjointed feel. Black Knight and Tricky Butcher flow better and have more character development. Still, all of the tales are stripped down to bare bones and lose much of the backstories, adventure, and charm. Mato has the boys lost and stranded on the top of the tower, then flashes forward to their adulthood, leaving readers to wonder how they got out of their predicament. Layout is the same in all of the books: text at the top of most pages and colorful illustrations filling in the rest of the space. The best use of these titles would be as introductions to the legends for slow or reluctant readers. Children already at this reading level might be better served by picture-book versions of the tales, such as Robert San Souci’s Young Arthur (Doubleday, 1997). It’s a bit more difficult, but it has a more engaging story.–Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA

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