A Sweet and Secret Fire

Bok Chitto is a river that divides Mississippi. Before the Trail of Tears or the Civil War, this river separated Indian land from slave land. If a slave crossed the river into the land of the Indian nation, he did not have to return to his plantation owner. As we are told, “that was the law.”

CROSSING BOK CHITTO by Tim Tingle, illustrated by Jeanne Rorex Bridges. Cinco Puntos Press, 2006. Www.cincopuntos.com

Author Tim Tingle is a member of the Chocktaw Nation of Oklahoma. He is a renowned story teller and a collector of Chocktaw lore in his state. Illustrator Bridges is of Cherokee ancestry and is a well known award-winning ilustrator. This is her first book illustration.

In his author’s note, Tingle writes, “We are proud of who we are. We are determined that our way, shared by many of all races, a way of respect for others and the land we live on, will prevail.”

His story of the river crossing is documented in the way he calls, “the Indian way, told and retold and then passed on by uncles and grandmothers.” His printed and illustrated book (language and painting) is a new way to pass on Indian stories and “tells” both for the Indian and the non-Indian so they will realize the “sweet and secret fire that drives the Indian heart.”

What I liked: the interaction of the two groups. They are different in many ways, but alike in the way they respected and took care of each other, their fellow members of the human family. The art is as telling and characterizing as the words on each page.

Two artists have united in a solid effort. The story will resonate on several levels, for both young listeners, young readers, and parents who participate in the joy of reading with their kids.

Begging to Go to School

She was already 13 when Betty Mae Jumper discovered that books could “talk.” She begged to go to school to learn to read and write and learn to speak English, too. This girl child from the Florida Everglades grew up to be a Seminole tribal leader, but she came close to not growing up at all.


SHE SANG PROMISE, The story of Betty Mae Jumper, Seminole Tribal Leader, by Jan Godown Annino, illustrated by Lisa Desimini. National Geographic Children’s Books, 2010.


As a young child, Betty Mae was almost thrown into the swamp to destroy her”bad spirits.” Fortunately, the family escaped to a safer place where Betty Mae grew up learning the ways and stories of her people, stories from when the animals could talk; stories like the Corn Lady, the Twins, How Little Dog Came to Be; stories of greed and stealth; stories she says showed the people how to live.

An eager student, Betty Mae learned quickly and well. She became a nurse, helped start a newspaper, interpreted in courtrooms and emergency rooms, and was elected one of the first female tribal leaders in modern times. She became a voice for her people as well as a protector of animal life in the Everglades. In her words, “Every living thing has a purpose and that’s not to make it dead.”

Author Godown’s prose flows into poetic phrases, almost a siren song to the word traveler. The illustrator's artwork is lush and deep as the night. Designed for 3rd and 4th graders, the book is a complete package: chronology, glossary, and bibliography. Readers of all ages will be lured into the Florida Everglades, unaware of how much they are learning about a multi-storied culture.

One more thing: Betty Mae could wrestle an alligator!