Moonstick

Book excerpt: My father cuts a moon-counting stick that he keeps in our tipi. At the rising of the first moon he makes a notch in it. "A new beginning for the young buffalo," he says. "And for us." In this beautifully written story by acclaimed author Eve Bunting, a young boy comes of age under the thirteen moons of the Sioux year. With each notch in his father's moon-counting stick, the boy marvels at the world around him, observing the sometimes subtle, sometimes remarkable changes in the seasons and in his own tribe's way of living. With rich and carefully researched paintings by artist John Sandford, Moonstick: The Seasons of the Sioux is a glorious picture book about one boy's journey toward manhood.