There were several sentences that I reread immediately with admiration. However, there are also characters who have more nuanced thinking, such as Philip Harris, the justice of the peace who defends Hanna’s right to get an education and listens to her when she advocates for the Indian women and children she meets out of town.īesides a fresh perspective, this book offers beautiful prose. her classmate Dolly asking if it’s hard for Hanna to see with her different shaped eyes). There are several people in town who exhibit obviously racist behavior (such as the white parents who object to having Hanna attend school with their children) or speak thoughtlessly to Hanna (e.g. Park also deliberately included Dakota dialogue in the text to acknowledge language that has been ignored in children’s literature.

This resulted in her correcting an accidental error in the way she described Wichapiwin’s communication with Hanna so that she motions with her lips instead of pointing with her finger.

I appreciate that the author did research to learn more about the Native peoples from the local area by visiting important sites and consulting with members from the nations who live there. A striking difference between PRAIRIE LOTUS and the LITTLE HOUSE books is that characters in this book exhibit empathy instead of contempt for the American Indians who were the original pioneers.

Prairie lotus book