A little Iroquois boy, following the bigger boys' New Years custom, offers to sell his younger brother to his mother for maple sugar - (Baker & Taylor)

A young Indian boy, too young to join the older boys in part of the New Year celebration, celebrates his own way with his family. - (Baker & Taylor)

The time of the New Year was an exciting one. The longhouses of the Iroquois were filled with busy people as everyone helped prepare for the celebration.

Little Runner envied the big boys who put on masks and threatened to steal prized possessions until they were dissuaded with large servings of maple sugar. It was an Iroquois ceremony, but it was the candy, not the custom, that appealed to Little Runner.

Little Runner did his best to convince his mother that he was one of the big boys, but she could not be fooled. How he finally achieved his goal makes a warmly happy story. The stunning pictures and skillfully chosen words realistically re-create the Iroquois way of life, and children will find this book that they can actually read by themselves both absorbing and delightful.