A Lakota Indian legend in which the White Buffalo Woman presents her people with the Sacred Calf Pipe which gives them the means to pray to the Great Spirit - (Baker & Taylor)

Presents the legend of the White Buffalo Woman, who introduced the pipe that has been part of Lakota culture and who changed into a bear to remind her tribespeople of their ties to nature. - (Baker & Taylor)

Booklist Reviews

Gr. 4^-8. In this picture book for older readers, Goble uses his characteristic decorative paintings to help retell an important sacred legend of the Lakota people. He describes a great flood, which killed almost all life on the earth, and relates how the nation came to be born again from the union of a woman of the earth and an eagle of the sky. He then explains how the people came upon hard and frightening times and tells of the arrival of the powerful White Buffalo Woman, who gave the Lakota people the Sacred Calf Pipe, a gift of the Great Spirit. The use of boldface headings and the braiding together of several myths interrupt the flow of the text, leaving readers to pick up additional meaning from the illustrations, but Goble fans, young and old, will enjoy the details in the clothing and landscape. The cartoonlike battle scene, with bloody, rolling heads, will certainly attract the attention of some young readers. In addition to notes regarding the significance of the tale, how he determined the style of clothing, and why he utilized specific related myths in his retelling, Goble lists primary and secondary sources. Additional information about Indian pipes is appended, as is a map pinpointing Pipestone Quarry, now a national monument. ((Reviewed March 15, 1998)) Copyright 2000 Booklist Reviews

Horn Book Guide Reviews

An author's note preceding the story provides background information on this Lakota legend. The story's message is one of cross-cultural harmony, but Goble leaves out a key aspect of the legend--the prophecy that the birth of a female white buffalo calf will signal the return of White Buffalo Woman and a new period of harmony among people. He concludes with useful information about Pipestone Quarry and pipes.Copyright 1998 Horn Book Guide Reviews

School Library Journal Reviews

According to his author's note, the legend of the White Buffalo Woman who brought the Sacred Calf Pipe to the Sans Arcs Lakotas is the most important of all the Lakota legends. Goble retells the story in episodes, beginning with a flood that wipes out the old worlds, then moving to the founding of a new world descended from the single survivor of the flood, a young woman who marries the eagle that rescues her. The red pipestone of the Sacred Calf Pipe is said to be the transformed bodies of the people who drowned in the flood. Goble's crystalline illustrations spread across the double pages, each a model of design, clarity, and balance. From the roiling clouds of the flood scene to the brilliant stylized sun that accompanies White Buffalo Woman, the paintings convey both mood and motion. Goble notes that the pipe portrayed is not the Sacred Calf Pipe, which should never be reproduced, a tangible reminder of the enduring respect the author/illustrator demonstrates in his work. While the sophistication of the story and the episodic nature of the narrative may limit the book's audience, visually it is one of Goble's most stunning offerings to date. A list of references, a detailed description of the components of a pipe and their symbolism, and a note about Pipestone Quarry round out this Donna L. Scanlon, Lancaster County Library, PA Copyright 1998 School Library Journal Reviews