I don't think I have ever read an American Indian folk story so this would be my first one. The first thing that I notice is the that American Indians have very close relationship with nature. In my perception the horses in the story symbolize family and freedom. The girl wants to run and live with horses making her spirit wild and free. She sees them as her family. The girl's true parents let her go because she symbolizes their desire to run wild and free among their distant relatives. The book has wonderful illustrations. I loved the way the author made this story extremely dramatic, especially during the thunderstorm, as Paul Globe made it seriously intense. During the thunderstorm scene, I was very worried for the girl hoping that the girl and the horses would make it to the safety. I was also thinking how will the conflict be resolved and what the explanation for it would be.
I did not know that American Indians believe that horses are their distant relatives. One almost feels happy when girl is allowed to return to the wild and live with the horses.
After reading the story to children I would ask them how they feel about the horses. I would then divide children into small groups and have them find out about one of the Native American group: Navajo, Sioux etc.
Each group can report on one of the aspects of Native American's lives, where they lived and what their customs and traditions were and still are. This book is very good to teach students about culture and history of American Indians.
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