Books with author Paul Goble

"There was a girl in the village who loved horses... She led the horses to drink at the river. She spoke softly and they followed. People noticed that she understood horses in a special way." And so begins the story of a young Native American girl devoted to the care of her tribe's horses. With simple text and brilliant illustrations. Paul Goble tells how she eventually becomes one of them to forever run free.

From the first brilliant rush of horses to the triumphant sight of beautiful bays, chestnuts, shiny blacks, whites, grays, and paints galloping across the pages, Paul Goble's very special book will delight all who love horses and all who love stories that tell of the spiritual connection between people and animals.His magnificent, detailed paintings evoke an almost forgotten world as he recounts a stirring legend based on the oral tradition of the Pawnee. Focusing on a poor boy and his grandmother, adventure begins when the boy discovers an old, limping horse. Though ridiculed by his tribe, the boy cares for the horse and brings it back to health. In turn, the animal helps his friend achieve greatness, only to be betrayed. The boy's remorse is sincere, but will he be forgiven?Captivating readers, Caldecott medalist Paul Goble shows how a loving friendship changes the lives of a people.

A brave boy goes into the hills and prays for help for his people. A rider on a magnificent animal comes to him and says: "This animal is called the Sacred Dog. He can do many things your dogs can do and also more...He is as the wind: gentle but sometimes frightening." The clouds close and suddenly one by one countless Sacred Dogs course down from the sky. And so the courage of one determined boy is rewarded by the Great Spirit: The horse, or Sacred Dog, is given to his tribe.

A young hunter draws his bow against a buffalo cow drinking from a stream. Before he can loose his arrow, there is no buffalo -- instead, there stands a beautiful young woman, whom he knows he must marry. The hunter's people shun the Buffalo Woman, and so she returns, with their son, Calf Boy, to her people. The hunter's heart compels him to follow. But he has been warned: The Buffalo Nation is angry at the Straight-up-People. And if he cannot find his wife and son among the many buffalo, they will be lost to him forever.

When an Indian girl begins to make clothes beautifully decorated with porcupine quills for seven brothers she has not yet met, her parents believe that unseen powers have spoken to her. The girl knows she must travel to the north country to find the seven brothers. She comforts her mother by saying, "Soon you will see me again with my brothers; everyone will know and love us!"

Star Boy was the son of Morning Star and an earthly bride. He was banished from the Sky World for this mother's disobedience and bore a mysterious scar on his face, the symbol of the Sun's disapproval. As Star Boy grew, he came to love the chief's daughter, and it was she who helped him find the courage to journey to the Sky World and make peace with the Sun. The Sun not only lifted the scar but sent Star Boy back to the world with the sacred knowledge of the Sun Dance, a ceremony of thanks for the Creator's blessing.

Long ago, when the world was still quite new, buffaloes used to eat people. It is true? The hair on their chins is hair of the people they use to eat...It is Terrible to think about those times... But the Creator saw the people's distress and decreed that a contest be held between all the two-legged and four-legged creatures. Who would win, thundering Buffalo or fleet-footed Man? None of the other animals was fast enough, and before the end, Beaver and Muskrat slipped off into a cool stream, Jack-rabbit hopped off across the plain, and Mole and Gopher tunneled underground (and may still think the race is on). The winner was decided long ago, in Sioux and Cheyenne legend. Buffalo -- who lost -- agreed to give up eating men for dinner, and thanks to the cunning of a single magpie, Man became the guardian of the natural world.