Encounter (Voyager Books)

A great story depicting Columbus's landing from a native point of view. I read it to my 5th graders as part of a unit on perspective, as they gather information from multiple sources to form an opinion. Kind of an abrupt, odd ending but really makes you think about colonization.

This book was written to make children dislike Christopher Columbus. I am not a fan of this. The author took many creative liberties in this story that were not helpful in presenting the story to a child.

If you teach about Columbus/Columbus Day, Native Americans, or early exploration (or if you’re looking to add more diversity to your bookshelves at home), you NEED this book! I read it every year to my fifth graders and they’re on the edge of their seat the entire time. The story is fantastically told and illustrated.

I have long since given away this work but I did read it an was impressed by it. My only "complaint" would be it does not condemn exploitive, slave mongering, family disruptive "religions" to the degree I feel would have been justified and appropriate. It does, I think, make us consider the effects slavery has on the family unit and how colonialism and perversion of "religion" may be a "bad thing." From the point of being 'non-threatening' and informative-great work.

I bought this book to read with my 1st grader for Indigenous People's Day. It sparked a lot of really great conversations. The illustrations are beautiful and it provides a much needed perspective in a way that is easily understood by even young kids. We are thrilled to have this in our home library.

A book for every classroom and home library. In fact, this would make a great Disney movie, unfortunately, there is no happy ending since indigenous people are still suffering.

This is NOT a non-fiction book. Having said that, it was refreshing to hear the story of Columbus's first encounter with the "New World" from a different point of view and sparked age-appropriate conversations with my young reader. I would highly recommend adding this to your library.

My complaint is the shipping method. It's a softcover shipped in an envelope, needless to say it is creased in half. The book itself is awesome! Just dad to see my new book mangled.

I love the way Jane Yolen tackles tough topics in such an accessible way for young readers. It's a great book to help young people think through what has, what can, what could, and what should happen when cultures collide. When I taught Social Studies this was my go to book for discussions about some of the sad, somber outcomes of European exploration and greed. You can even draw connections between this story and other groups that are being currently displaced or disadvantaged by other groups' progress. Also the book contains a great deal of figurative language. When I used it for ELA, I would read a portion.It's a very long book to read in one sitting. And then later or the next day I would pick out sentences/phrases from the text and have students identify the type of figurative language. There are also several moments that require readers' to make inferences This is a strong mentor text, on so many levels.

My students loved this book which captures the arrival of Columbus in another light. It allowed them a different point of view and had them questioning what they had been taught prior to this.

A great story depicting Columbus's landing from a native point of view. I read it to my 5th graders as part of a unit on perspective, as they gather information from multiple sources to form an opinion. Kind of an abrupt, odd ending but really makes you think about colonization.

This book was written to make children dislike Christopher Columbus. I am not a fan of this. The author took many creative liberties in this story that were not helpful in presenting the story to a child.

If you teach about Columbus/Columbus Day, Native Americans, or early exploration (or if you’re looking to add more diversity to your bookshelves at home), you NEED this book! I read it every year to my fifth graders and they’re on the edge of their seat the entire time. The story is fantastically told and illustrated.

I have long since given away this work but I did read it an was impressed by it. My only "complaint" would be it does not condemn exploitive, slave mongering, family disruptive "religions" to the degree I feel would have been justified and appropriate. It does, I think, make us consider the effects slavery has on the family unit and how colonialism and perversion of "religion" may be a "bad thing." From the point of being 'non-threatening' and informative-great work.

I bought this book to read with my 1st grader for Indigenous People's Day. It sparked a lot of really great conversations. The illustrations are beautiful and it provides a much needed perspective in a way that is easily understood by even young kids. We are thrilled to have this in our home library.

A book for every classroom and home library. In fact, this would make a great Disney movie, unfortunately, there is no happy ending since indigenous people are still suffering.

This is NOT a non-fiction book. Having said that, it was refreshing to hear the story of Columbus's first encounter with the "New World" from a different point of view and sparked age-appropriate conversations with my young reader. I would highly recommend adding this to your library.

My complaint is the shipping method. It's a softcover shipped in an envelope, needless to say it is creased in half. The book itself is awesome! Just dad to see my new book mangled.

I love the way Jane Yolen tackles tough topics in such an accessible way for young readers. It's a great book to help young people think through what has, what can, what could, and what should happen when cultures collide. When I taught Social Studies this was my go to book for discussions about some of the sad, somber outcomes of European exploration and greed. You can even draw connections between this story and other groups that are being currently displaced or disadvantaged by other groups' progress. Also the book contains a great deal of figurative language. When I used it for ELA, I would read a portion.It's a very long book to read in one sitting. And then later or the next day I would pick out sentences/phrases from the text and have students identify the type of figurative language. There are also several moments that require readers' to make inferences This is a strong mentor text, on so many levels.

My students loved this book which captures the arrival of Columbus in another light. It allowed them a different point of view and had them questioning what they had been taught prior to this.

Great kid-friendly way to expose kids to the relationship between American Indians and the explorers.

Great for my level 5 reading student. Helps with reading comprehension AND history!! After reading this she was ableto do a short book report and had learned new facts.

This is just 1619 project propaganda. I wish I hadn’t bought it.

Good illustrations, sad ending, actual innocence and historically plausible.

Thank you!

After completing a unit on European explorers, I read this book aloud to my fifth graders. They listened intently, then had a long discussion about what might have happened if they had been there. Awesome wrap-up. Great illustrations.

Great book that helps see the other side of history.

Great for teaching kids about Columbus and colonization, also thanksgiving.

Great children’s book!

Arrived in great condition, exactly as described.

Loved this book with a new perspective on Columbus!

Interesting.

Great book

Good book

This is an amazing book for teaching about first contact. We also used it for mentor sentences.

Amazing story...

What a great book for showing both early exploration from the Native point of view. As a teacher, I don't just want to teach that Columbus was a hero. Yes, he accomplished some amazing things, but the cost to civilizations that were already in place was catastrophic. This book is short enough to present quickly, but serious enough to begin some real discussions on the changes that took place as a result of Columbus and the rest of the explorers.

Aside from the shameful black and white copies of David Shannon's beautiful illustrations, the text is out of order which diminishes the impact of the story. I have a copy of the book in Spanish that I have treasured. The English text on the Kindle does not match the the order of the pages. I have to scroll back and forth on the kindle to follow the books' pictures and storyline.

I bought the kindle version of this book because I read it last year to my students and they LOVED the illustrations. The colors captured their attention as I was reading the story out loud. I was going to use this in my lesson tomorrow, but I think I will be making a stop at the library first for the real thing.

Love this book. I used it to pair together social studies and reading to teach different points of view for famous historical events, and it just works so well as a beautifully illustrated alternative to the story most students hear about the arrival of the European explorers. I had to translate the book for my immersion students, but I felt the base text is very appropriate for upper elementary students.

Great book!

As a teacher who gets tired of students learning about the AMAZING Columbus who founded America (yes students often are lead to think this) I was thrilled to find this book. It does show some of the negative impacts of colonization and is enjoyable also. The author speaks about the research done in order to write the book, so that's always a plus! Heck, my students are all 12+ and I read it to them. Having the Kindle version was great, and now I can come back to it next year without having to dig out a physical book for 1 day!

The story is an excellent story, and great for asking my students to make inferences. I bought the kindle edition to use with my PC app, and am disappointed that the kindle edition has no color. It is still a great story with very good illustrations.

Having borrowed the book from my local library, I noticed that the Kindle edition was available and at a low price. I bought it yesterday evening, and returned it this afternoon. Regardless of what you think of the book (and there are some fascinating points of view in other people's reviews), the Kindle edition is not just disappointing but incomplete. The illustrations, as someone else has pointed out, are in black and white, even when read on the cloud reader on my laptop, but even worse there are illustrations and whole pages of text totally missing, and that's just in the first few pages! Shameful quite honestly.

A well-written story and beautifully illustrated account of Columbus' landing on San Salvador. Perfect for discussing Point of View and imagery with children from very young to very old. Worth the purchase

This is an awesome book to show your class when you talk about Columbus. I think everyone knows he's controversial, so this book really hits it home for the kids. Great discussion starter or writing topic.

I use this book in my social studies classroom. Most exploration books and textbooks are written from the explorer perspective. I love that my students are shown other perspectives when we read this book.

I bought this book as a method of teaching my history class about explorers from the point of view of the Native Americans. Although the book was an effective method, the book itself was a little depressing. Also, some of the pictures were a little much for the 4th graders that I had intended it for. For example, one picture showed a little female nudity, albeit in shadow, but the outline was there. Overall, I think the book was very well written, and the story was easy to understand. However, I would be cautious as to what age level I read the book to.

If you ever wanted to imagine what Columbus' arrival would have looked like from the Native American perspective, look no further. This is a beautiful and haunting book that must be included in any elementary study of explorers.

Awesome way of telling this story to young children. Pictures are a little scary but they help the child infer the type of people the characters were.

I think this book will open people's eyes to the other side of Columbus and help people understand why Native Americans don't celebrate or acknowledge his day in a positive way. This book should be a required reading for school children during the time they study Columbus in school.

This simply wriiten picture book give the Columbus visit from a different viewpoint.

gift, wasn't what I expected but ok

As part of our third grade curriculum I find this book is useful for students to understand the impact the European explorers had on the Native Americans. It leads to interesting discussions and opens up the minds of young people to imagine what it must have been like to see these strange Europeans on their land.

Gived a different and true perpective of what some people came over the Atlantic for.

Good for point of view and symbolism.

A different perspective with beautiful text and illustrations.

great for read aloud

Happy with the purchase

This is an excellent book. I was hoping to use it with my middle school class for an integrated lesson on character and perspective in a historical time period. I have used it in the past and loved the illustrations. This version is NOT in color. We still went ahead an used it, but it was not worth the money for a black and white version.

Satisfied

Great

This book was received in a timely manner and in great shape. I am using this book to show the students the view of the Native Americans as they saw the white man coming to America.

Needed for school.

WOW. What a powerful story to share with students!

One of the best books to teach children about perspective and empathy. They can really feel what it was like for a young Taino boy to witness the first Europeans coming to his home.

Do not buy this Kindle Edition unless they make serious changes. First the PAGES ARE OUT OF ORDER for several pages!!! Secondly, the illustrations, which are an important part of the *picture* book, are scanned in black and white instead of their beautiful color as Shannon made them. If I were Yolen or Voyager Books, I would be furious!

The other side of the truth about Columbus and his travels to the new world. A must read for Columbus Day.

This is a great book from the native point of view. Great for classroom use when teaching American history an studying Columbus.

As a history teacher, I love this point of view. It is well worth it and one of the best books for talking about the impact of explorers on Native Americans. Great pictures as well!

I bought this book for a read aloud for my 5th grade class. The students are reading Pedro's Journal which is a diary of Columbus' cabin boy. Encounter is a native boy's perspective of Columbus' exploration. This story depicts Columbus in a different light.

gave as a gift and the Social Studies teacher loves it

I use this book every year in my class to discuss viewpoint and the way history is written from a white European viewpoint.

Good classroom library addition.

My daughter had to read this book for school. This book is short and amazing. I recommend this to ages 9 and up.

Read the author's note. Most records we have of this time period are from the European explorer's point of view. We need to hear other voices.

Bought for school. Looks great.

It came a little late than expected but other than that it's good.

Great book!

I was given the smallest version of the novel and galled the class because of it. Thanks a lot !!!

I really wanted to like this book. I specifically have chosen books this year to give an opposite view than just the Western view of Columbus' landing and to begin to show some of the genesis of the conflict between settlers and Native Americans. The illustrations are beautiful and the text is engaging. I love how the person writing it was a child in the story and was not listened to by adults but keeps trying though they aren't listening. The one thing I take issue with in the book is that it does the very thing that Western History is guilty of doing where it objectifies Columbus and his men calling them "not true men." In the first instance I was OK with it because the author discusses how the Taino were unsure if they were "true men" due to their color and speculates where they may have come from. But after all the experiences they have with the explorers at the end of the book the young boy (now an old man) talks about the many atrocities against their people by the explorers and then says "Our sons and daughters became their sons and daughters, no longer true humans..." as though somehow being assimilated into the Spanish culture that settled that land made them not truly human. One only need to think of how the Taino would feel if the book were written backwards where Columbus might call the Taino not truly human (as many explorers and Caucasian people did) to see how truly offensive that is. The sins against the Taino people were truly grievous, no doubt. But they WERE perpetrated by human men and a human culture. I want my children to see that humanity is capable of both great beauty and of causing great suffering without calling into question whether the homo sapien committing either beauty or suffering is human. Perhaps it is an opportunity to talk about what makes us human and what gives us value whether we commit horrid acts of atrocity or beautiful works of sacrifice and art. That being said that is all I can say the book is truly good for. It is written in too biased a position to be a good recommendation as another view of history.

Through the written word of Jane Yolen and the magnificent illustrations by artist David Shannon, we are given one of the most thought provoking children's books available as to the subject of early American, and indeed, European history. Recent historical writings, fed by some adjustments in our overall way of perceiving the early settlement of the Americas and their exploitation by European powers, have shed a new light on and caused most of us to take a second look as to our attitudes and conclusions as to the famous "Columbus Discovers America" story that most school children almost know by heart. Before I begin, I must admit that it is extremely tempting to begin a historical, political, social and ethical rant after reading this work as an adult. Make no mistake; I have extremely strong views and opinions when it comes to evaluating Columbus and his actions, which are rather strongly reinforced by a wife who is a rather militant lady of overwhelming Native American heritage. These views and opinions, for me, were forged long before it became the "in" thing to trash the famous explorer. I will not, in this review, place my views to the forefront, but attempt, to simply review the book for what it is. This is the story of the landing and first encounter of Columbus and his crew as they met the indigenous people of Hispaniola (Haiti) which were called the Taino people. It is told through the eyes of a young boy who through a dream, fears that a great evil has descended upon their land. They boy tries to warn his people not to accept these strange beings; to reject them. His people do not listen to him of course and then the inevitable occurs and of course history is played out. While the author has used gentle words to form the text of his story and Shannon has beautifully illustrated the work, the adult reader should be aware that this is a very depressing story. There are aspects of the work that the young reader most certainly needs to be guided through; points of understanding that will need explanation. As an example, it should be noted that the author has use a completely illiterate child to tell the story, and done it quite effectively, but some of the opinions and observations of this child would certainly not be politically correct in this day and age. The child does indeed base much of his dislike and fear toward these strangers on the simply fact that they have different speech (they sound like barking dogs to his ear), their skin color, dress and habits. This needs adult explanation in some cases. As the author points out in his notes, it is estimated that the native populations, Taino men, women and children was approximately 300,000 at the time of first contact. Only 50 years later the population was less than 500. Today there not longer exist "full-blooded Taino. No trace of their original religion remains, no remnants of the social customs linger. It is estimated that throughout the entire area the population of these peoples was probably at 16 million; again, they are no more. This folks, in my view is more than a little depressing. It is more than likely to put a tear or two in your eye as you finish. To read this work as a class will bring up hour upon hour of discussion and conversation. It gives a different view of our relative recent past and gives the little ones some food for thought. I personally would not use this work for a class under the 4th grade...but then each class is different and that is for the teacher and/or parent to decide. Don Blankenship The Ozarks

Encounter by Jane Yolen takes place in the past. A boy had a bad dream about three great winged birds then he walked to the beach, he saw his dream birds. When the strangers arrived the little boy said" Do not welcome them." To see if the strangers were true men the boy pinched there hands one by one when they built a "feasting fire." The chief taught them how to smoke. When the boy ran to his zemis he fed pieces from the feast and prayed "let the pale strangers from the sky go away from us." When he got back to the feast, one of the strangers let him touch there sword. When he touched it he started to bleed. So when the strangers went on their boats they took people and parrot the boy jumped out and swam to land. When he got to land no one would listen to him because he was a child. You should listen to whatever anyone has to say. The boy's bad dream was a warning. The boy said "Do not welcome them" Do not call them friends" then they have already welcomed them. The chief didn't listen to him because he was a child. The boy said "Do not welcome them" three times and "Do not call them friends" once. I recommend this book to anyone who feels just because they're a child nobody listens to them. By Jesus

For the first few years in school, children learn about Columbus the hero. You get the ships and the voyage and the alleged discovery. When I taught third grade I would read this book around Columbus day and it was shock and awe with the kids. The thought that Columbus might not have been such a hero created dead silence around my room. Some felt duped by their second and first grade teachers. A conversation really begins to take hold about information and where it comes from and what you should or should not just assume to be true. It is higher level thinking at its best. After reading this book and having the discussions that followed, many of my students began asking many more questions about the other side of every argument. What a valuable lesson! For many of my students it was a brave new world. Chris Bowen Author of,

Encounter is a book for young children, usually for a story-telling time. When I was reading the book, I thought the story was highly conceptual. Having written that, it is usually a good idea that the storyteller to explain the details in more informative way. That way, the kids won't be frustrated with the vagueness of it. I warn you, the story of Encounter will lead to a depressing ending, so I am kind of unsure if the book is a good idea for kids to be exposed to the story. It is not depressing in a terrible way but rather in an enlightening way because the story is true and it did happen. The book is quite aimed at defiling the accomplishments of Columbus and his counterparts for creating New World. So, take care of how you want to teach the kids from the book and make it a worthwhile experience. The pictures of Encounter are above average and somewhat drab. There are a few choice words (i.e., zemis) that are not directly explained but rather illustrated in the pictures (and you need to make an effort to look for them). All in all, Encounter could be used for children but wisely.