The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story

Title: The First Strawberries: A Cherokee Story

Author: Joseph Bruchac

Genre: Multicultural

Summary: A man and woman were created at the same time so neither of them would be lonely. They married and lived happily for a long time together. One day, the man came home from work and the woman hadn’t started to prepare dinner for that night yet. Instead, she was out picking flowers. The man was angry and the woman began to get angry too. She said his words hurt her and she no longer wanted to live with him. She began to walk towards the sun and her husband followed. He couldn’t catch her, for her steps were too quick. The Sun watched as the husband followed his wife. He said that he didn’t mean what he said but he wasn’t fast enough to catch her, so the Sun, seeing how sorry he was, decided to help. The Sun shone its light where berries were, but the woman paid no attention to them. She kept walking. The Sun tried again but shining light down on blueberries. Still, the woman continued to walk. For the third time, the Sun shone its light on blackberries. They were dark and plump, but the woman was too angry and she did not see them. Lastly, the Sun shone its light where the woman was, and this time, she stopped to look at the strawberries. The man caught up to her as she was picking them up and wanted her to forgive him. She did by sharing strawberries with him. To this day, when the Cherokee people eat strawberries, they are reminded to be kind to one another and to remember that friendship and respect are as sweet as the taste of the berries.

Characters: man, woman, sun

Plot: Man was trying to get his wife to forgive him for his hurtful words

Theme: respect, kindness, relationships

Setting: outdoors

Opinion: I thought this book was cute. It was historically accurate and it was a good story to read. It is good to read to children about kindness and respect to everyone as well without just telling them to be nice to each other.