Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing

by James Rumford

Book Overview

A 2005 Sibert Honor Book

The story of Sequoyah is the tale of an ordinary man with an extraordinary idea--to create a writing system for the Cherokee Indians and turn his people into a nation of readers and writers. The task he set for himself was daunting. Sequoyah knew no English and had no idea how to capture speech on paper. But slowly and painstakingly, ignoring the hoots and jibes of his neighbors and friends, he worked out...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618369473
• ISBN13: 9780618369478
• Release Date: November 2004
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 7.8" x 11.6"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Great Information on Sequoyah

My 3rd Graders LOVED this book. They espicially loved how the book included the Cherokee language. They all tried to copy it and write like Sequoyah. A perfect book on Sequoyah and the Cherokee language.

Language is key

Well, it had to happen sometime. I knew it was just a matter of time before I found that I could no longer distinguish between amazingly well-written non-fiction picture books and adult non-fiction works of literature. It all came to a head when I sat down to read James Rumford's remarkable, "Sequoyah". A winner of the Sibert Honor, the book is a intelligent examination of the Cherokee metalworker who gave his people their own written language. Reading it, I found myself intensely interested in the book's subject and his amazing accomplishment of creating an entirely new written form. But I became depressed when I reached the end. Suddenly I wanted more information. More! I wanted to know what became of the Cherokee writing and what its state is today. It took an embarrassingly long time before I stopped blaming Rumford for being so paltry with his facts and remembered that I was not, in fact, reading an in-depth history but a remarkably interesting picture book. So ladies and gentlemen of the vast Internet universe, I can think of no higher praise to give this book than this: It makes grown adults forget what they're reading, so interesting is the material. Rumford begins on a personal note. One year, as a child, his father brought him and his family to visit the great sequoia trees of California. And the man for whom these magnificent trees are named? A leader of his people though, as Rumford's father would say, "but not as you may think?". Thus begins the history of Sequoyah. The son of a Cherokee woman and a white father he worked as a metalworker and, at the age of fifty, decided to capture his people's voices before they were wiped out by the whites. This intention was not initially appreciated by the Cherokees who may have feared that he was adopting a European trait. After some initial mishaps, Sequoyah decided to produce a syllabary based writing system. Utilizing eighty-four letters he taught his six-year-old daughter Ayoka to read. Slowly, his new system caught on until in 1824 the Cherokee Nation gave Sequoyah a silver metal. The book ends with a full syllabary accompanied with some background information for those who would like to know more about the live and history of the Cherokee language and its creator. James Rumford gave the world the incredibly intricate and fascinating Chadian picture book, "The Calabash Cat", containing a story written in both English and Arabic. Rumford does something similar in "Sequoyah" by printing the text both in English and, this time, in the Cherokee language. It's a remarkably beautiful language visually, and here it is translated by Anna Sixkiller Huckaby who is the training coordinator at the Cherokee Nation Cultural Resource Center. The illustrations in the book are immensely beautiful, especially within the context of the story. Rarely are dedications of picture books illustrated. Here, they are. And it improves the story. The illustrations here are inspired by

neat story

This a picture book biography of Sequoyah. I learned that he was the creator of the Cherokee alphabet. His friends teased him but he kept working anyway. He was a very smart man. The book has beautiful illustrations. I never knew about Sequoyah before reding this book. It was a nice introduction to his life. I would recommend this book to kids who are teased for one reason or another. Sequoyah followed his dreams when he was teased. He is a good role model for kids today.

award winning book!

This book just won a Sibert Honor Award, given at the American Library Association meeting where they give out the Caldecott and Newberry awards and others, for its contribution to children's literature. This is a Big Deal! It's a FANTASTIC book. You won't regret getting this book. It's what I'm giving all the kids on my list this year.