The Legend of the Bluebonnet: An Old Tale of Texas by Tomie De Paola

The Legend of the Bluebonnet tells the tale of how the Texas Bluebonnet came to be.  The story begins with a Comanche tribe dealing with a drought that has affected them.  The drought has dried out their land and because of this, their people are not doing so well.  They dance and pray to their spirits to bring them relief.  A young girl by the name of  She-Who-Is-Alone starts talking to her doll and letting her now that once the shaman will advise the tribe what is needed for them to do  to bring the green grass and buffalo back to their land.  The shaman returns and informs the tribe that to please the spirits; a sacrifice of their most valued possessions must be made because of their past selfishness.  She-Who-Is-Alone knew right away what she needed to sacrifice, and gave up her doll (which was the only thing she had left; since all her family had passed away from the famine).  This was a selfless act that was rewarded by the Spirits, with luscious green lands and a new blue flower with petals that looked like the feathers from her doll.  From then on she would be known as One-Who-Dearly-Loved-Her-People and was remembered every spring since then when the Bluebonnets blossom in Texas.

This book is a great little folktale about who the bluebonnet came to be.  The illustrations in this picture book are simply done in a way that enhances the story.  It is a perfect book for teachers to use when they are teaching their students about the different symbols of Texas.  This is also a great book to teach kids about sacrifices and not being selfish,


A book trailer can be found at  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gcGlxsTrqE

Teachers can find ideas about how to incorporate this book into their lesson at  http://www.atozkidsstuff.com/blueb.html

Readers also enjoyed  The Quilt Story by Tony Johnston and How My Parents Learned to Eat by Ina R Friedman

Additional books written by the author are  The Art Lesson and Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

DePaola, T. (1983). The legend of the bluebonnet: An old tale of Texas. New York: Putnam.