HIAWATHA AND MEGISSOGWON

National Geographic Society, 2001. 1st Edition Printing Unknown. Hardcover. New/New. Jeffrey Thompson color illus.. CONDITION: NEW 2001 National Geographic hardcover (decorated boards) & dust jacket, first edition, printing unknown. Spectacular color illustrations by Jeffrey Thompson. Afterword by Joseph Bruchac. CONTENT: How Hiawatha slew serpents and traversed deadly, black-pitch waters to vanquish the evil magician Megissogwon is told in the "Pearl-Feather" section of "The Song of Hiawatha." Longfellow's words provide the text for a powerful and engrossing picture-book version of the story. Readers who persevere through the no-longer-familiar poem will be rewarded for their efforts by Hiawatha's exciting adventures, ferocious battles, and victorious homecoming. The text has been capably illustrated in a complex process utilizing original drawings, black-and-white scratchboard, and a computer program for color. The result is uniquely suggestive at once of traditional woodblock prints and contemporary computer processes. Colors are deep and vivid. A pattern of multiple frames, irregularly split frames, and double-page spreads effectively heightens the drama of the story. In the back matter, an author's comment provides the details of source material for the patterns and images, including original craftwork of the Ojibway/Chippewa peoples and artifacts on display at the Smithsonian Institution. In an afterword, Joseph Bruchac comments on the authenticity of Hiawatha as a Native American story. He also credits Longfellow's respect for his material and provides background on the poet's original sources. While pointing out the mistakes Longfellow made (including confusing the historic figure of Hiawatha with the Anishinabe trickster Manabozho), Bruchac's balanced comments also pay tribute to this classic poem as the first step in bringing Native American cultures into the national consciousness. This book deserves a place in both the literature and history classrooms. Grades 4-8.