BROTHER EAGLE, SISTER SKY
by Chief Seattle & adapted by Susan Jeffers & illustrated by Susan Jeffers
In the 1850's, when the US wanted to buy his people's Pacific Northwest land, Chief Seattle delivered this eloquent message to a Commissioner of Indian Affairs; since then, it has been adapted several times, by Joseph Campbell among others. Poetic and compelling, it's a plea to revere and preserve the web of creation: "Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.'' Jeffers's finely detailed art focuses on the beauty and nobility of the Native Americans' world, with a tidy clear-cut forest to represent the depredations to come. A handsome setting for an ever-more resonant appeal. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5+)