Nanabosho and the Woodpecker

Kelly L. Green is editor of the Canadian Book Review Annual’s
Children’s Literature edition.

That silly Nanabosho! This time, Nokomis (grandmother) tells the story
of how Nanabosho once pretended to be a woodpecker (he thought the
woodpecker’s method of getting food was so clever) and ended up
hurting his nose when he slammed his homemade wooden beak into a tree.
The children think this story is hilarious—except for Billy, who hurt
his arm pretending to be an eagle and jumping out of a tree (and for
whose benefit the story is told).

Joe McLellan’s Nanabosho series just gets better and better. In this
latest tale, he has really mastered the art of weaving together a
contemporary story and a traditional legend. Nanabosho, that ubiquitous
Native trickster and sometime clown, is as appealing and entertaining as
ever, this time complete with a very swollen red nose. This book will
appeal to anybody who has ever done anything really stupid and regretted
it (including grownups). Highly recommended.