Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad: A Traditional Navajo Story

by Shonto Begay

A lazy, conniving coyote habitually takes advantage of his animal cousins until his cousin, Horned Toad, teaches him a lesson he never forgets.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Cultural, Native American, Fantasy, Folklore, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1992

About the author

I was born in a hogan in Shonto, Arizona. My parents are traditional Navajo people. My father is a medicine man, and my mother weaves rugs and herds sheep.

My message is simple. Build bridges through the arts and stories of your culture, validate and share these visions and voices. Celebrate your personal identity through the arts. In my talks, I am as much a student as I am a teacher," says Shonto.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ma'ii, or Coyote, was always hungry. But although he liked to eat, he didn't like to work for his food, preferring to visit his various relations, one after another, and let them feed him. Stuffing himself on the corn provided by his cousin Horned Toad, Ma'ii begins to imagine that eating his little relation, and taking over his farm, is the answer to all his problems. Then he will always have enough to eat! But things don't work out quite as he envisioned, and Ma'ii soon finds that having Horned Toad in his belly is not a very comfortable sensation...

I enjoyed this humorous Navajo folktale immensely - it's always fun to see the trickster tricked - and thought the illustrations, created with "watercolor, gouache, color pencil and magic," were just lovely. The color scheme appealed to me, and I found Ma'ii's facial expressions very droll. Raised in a traditional Navajo home, Shonto Begay - who has also illustrated Ramona Maher's Alice Yazzie's Year and Lois Duncan's The Magic of Spider Woman - brings an obvious respect and affection to this traditional tale, and I thank him for sharing it with readers. Highly recommended!

[Mary Overton]

Trickster Coyote, Ma'ii, is bested by good-hearted Horned Toad:
Coyote, in order to steal Horned Toad's farm, swallows the little creature, who then takes revenge from inside Coyote's guts.
"Horned Toad's skin was too rough for Ma'ii's delicate insides. He swam through the tunnels and strange spaces inside of Ma'ii until he came upon Ma'ii's big, fat, thumping heart. Ma'ii screamed and begged for mercy.
"Horned Toad gave Ma'ii's heart one big tug, then another. Ma'ii yelped and fell to the ground. He had fainted from fright."

[Jenna Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: This is a Navajo story about a coyote and a toad. The coyote does not like to work so he visits his cousin who has land with food. The coyote eats the toad so he can take advantage of the land. The toad stayed alive in his stomach and tortured the coyote until he let him free.

Writing trait:
Ideas - This story has a strong main idea and lesson for the reader. We learn that it is important not to use someone for their hard work because there will be consequences. The conversations between the characters teach the audience about consequences for certain actions.

Mentor text:
I could use this text in my classroom when learning about Native American Indians. This is also a great book to have in my classroom library for multicultural and diversity.

Reading level: 4.6

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a child, I would have thought this to be a strange story indeed. The European fairy tales were my basis for comparison and a talking coyote who thought a horned toad was his cousin? That is absurd.

Now I'd like to read this with a child, and together, we could giggle over the way the little horned toad outwitted that lazy coyote. AND together we would wonder if coyotes and horned toads really could be "cousins."

[Fish · Rating 4 out of 5]

A school librarian read this book to my class when I was still in single digits, and it haunted me (affectionate) for decades before I found it again and proved to my doubtful family that there indeed exists a picture book about a small critter swimming and causing organ havoc in its devourer (good for him!). Excellent adaptation of the story to a picture book. Thanks, school librarian.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this story, it’s funny and I would have given it 5 stars but I only gave it 4 stars because the pictures need help. Especially the horned toad - he looks like an evil demon/mandrake throughout.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice take on a traditional coyote tale by a Native author.

[Sherry Scheline · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Navajo story telling this however was not my favorite.

[Sarah Sinclair · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite children’s books and one I read to my own child. I always loved it!

[Marisol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Plot Summary:

Ma’ii, a lazy, conniving, and freeloading coyote, takes advantage of his cousin, Horned Toad, by eating the corn Horned Toad worked hard to cultivate. In an effort to keep Horned Toad’s entire farm, Ma’ii tricks Horned Toad and swallows him whole. Eventually, Ma’ii gets his comeuppance and learns a valuable lesson.



Critical Analysis:

In this humorous morality tale, the only two characters are Ma’ii, a ravenous and deceitful coyote, and Horned Toad, a nice horned toad who feeds Ma’ii but eventually teaches him a lesson. As for the setting, the story brings out the following details that reflect the desert-like conditions of Arizona, home of the Navajo Indians: cedar and pine smelling air, sagebrush-covered valley, canyon, and cornfield. The illustrations in the book also accurately reflect the characters’ environment in the story. In regards to the Navajo culture, the story is rich in cultural details with the seamless incorporation of Navajo phrases, words, and songs. A glossary of Navajo words is provided at the end of the book to ease reading comprehension. After reading the “About the Coyote and the Horned Toad” section, it is apparent that the story is consistent with the Navajo culture because the coyote in the tale is depicted as being a trickster and the story teaches people how to properly conduct themselves. Furthermore, the back cover of the book provides a short biography of Shonto Begay, which adds credibility to the story being an accurate and authentic Navajo tale.

In regards to the illustrations, the appealing illustrations are boldly colored, resemble the Arizona environment, and enhance the story. The facial expressions and body movements of the characters reflect human emotions and body language, which make the story entertaining. All in all, I recommend this Aesop-like picture book because it provides insight to the tales told by the Navajo Indians.

[Chelsea]

Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad is a Navajo Legend of why the coyote does not bother the horned toad. This book is about the coyote going to visit his cousin the horned toad so that his cousin can feed him a good meal since he raises a farm. when the coyote visits his cousin, he eats too much of his food and is not thankful so his horned toad cousin gets mad and tells him that if he eats anymore he must help him on the farm. The coyote did not like this idea and wanted the farm all to himself so he swallowed his cousin thinking he would get rid of him but instead the horned toad hurts the coyotes insides because of his rough skin. The coyote learns his lesson and never again bothers his cousin. I love this story, it is very entertaining and interesting. The pictures are very different and creative. The book has a great story line to it and it also teaches a lesson at the same time.

[Cortney Perkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this story, it is about a hard working horned toad who is just overly nice to his long lost cousin the wolf. The wolf shows up for a free meal and a place to sleep. The horned toad goes above and beyond for his family. But, then the wolf does something awful to horned toad. Horned toad eventually gets the wolf to leave and never come back. But, it is a great read and story for students. I would love to share it with my students or have it in my class library. I think the illustrations were enjoyable, I caught myself just looking at the pages before I would continue reading.

[Carolynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a traditional Coyote story in which the trickster Coyote (Ma’ii) tries to cheat a “cousin” out of his own farm, but Cousin Horned Toad, symbolizing wisdom and strength, turns the tables on him. The son of a Navajo medicine man, Begay illustrated this story with beautiful muted watercolors in addition to writing it. His work has been displayed in 50 galleries including The Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian in Santa Fe, the American Indian Contemporary Arts' museum in San Francisco and Phoenix Art Museum.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ma'ii, the coyote, tries to take the horned toad's farm, but tricking the toad to get into his mouth so he could swallow him.

It is interesting that the horned toad is the good one in this tale since he looks very creepy in the illustrations. Nothing like a toad at all! Overall, I liked the tale, but it isn't one of my favorites.

[Shauna]

This is a story from a Navajo Native American legend. The story is about a coyote and horned toad who are cousins. Coyote learns a very hard lesson about why you should work hard and help each other equally. A great book to use for studying Native American beliefs, and teaching lessons about being sneaky.

[Kandice Buck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a wolf and his toad cousin. The wolf is a selfish guy who does everything he can to get what he wants without having to work. He uses his cousin toad for food and eats him so he can own his farm. This book has a great message for children about working hard and not being selfish. This is a good book for fourth graders and fifth.

[A.J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. This would be a great way to introduce Native American culture into the classroom and talk about different types of folk tales. You could use this book to discuss the meaning of the moral of the story. You could use this book to talk about how folktales used to be passed from one generation to the next (by word of mouth).

[Shanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book holds a Native America legend about a coyote and horned toad who are cousins. Coyote learns a very hard lesson about why you should never be lazy and let everyone else work for you. A great book to use for studying Native American beliefs.

[Mary Dye · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because there were song lyrics which could be fun to sing along with the students which I think that they would really love. Some of this book was difficult to fully understand, but there was a glossary provided at the back of the book which really helped.

[Helen Jeffries · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a traditional Navajo story. This book would be good for older elementary students. It's a good book for inferring the meaning.

[Aj · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read with great illustrations, I think kids in 3rd to 5th grade would really enjoy it this book.

[Kelsey Ruggirello · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book would be great for a 4th or 5th grade class. I enjoyed reading it and the illustrations that went along with it.

[Sam Burk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an entertaining story that gives a lesson about not taking advantage of others.