Princess Scargo And The Birthday Pumpkin: THE NATIVE AMERICAN LEGEND

by Eric Metaxas

Treat your family to this touching story about a young Native American girl who gives up a precious birthday gift in order to save her village. This enchanting adaptation, based on a popular Native American legend, embodies the true spirit of selflessness.

Genres: Picture Books

40 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 1996

About the author

In a decidedly eclectic career, Eric Metaxas has written for VeggieTales, Chuck Colson, Rabbit Ears Productions and the New York Times, four things not ordinarily in the same sentence. He is a best-selling author whose biographies, children’s books, and works of popular apologetics have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Reviews

[Ronyell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review is also on:Rabbit Ears Book Blog

“Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin” is a wonderful tale from the genius minds of Rabbit Ears about a young Native American princess named Scargo who learns about the power of sacrificing the things you love to save the people you love. Geena Davis’ tender narration along with Michael Hedges’ Native American inspired music and Karen Barbour’s beautiful illustrations makes “Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin” an instant classic for the young and old.

A drought came to the land and the ponds were dried up which made the Nabscuet tribe upset because they needed the fish to survive on. So, Chief Segam called for a meeting and they decided to dig up a lake to withstand the drought, therefore, when the rains come, the hole will be filled up and a new lake would be created. Everyone in the tribe helped out with the lake, except for Princess Scargo who could not work because she was a princess of a great chief. Unfortunately, even though everyone tried to work on the lake, the fish continued to die.

Finally, the rains came and filled up the hole to that created a lake and everyone celebrated. Unfortunately, it would be a long time before the fish returned to the lake and Princess Scargo was sad because she wanted to help out the tribe so badly. As Princess Scargo went to the forest to stare at the fish in her birthday pumpkin, she got an idea and realized what she must do…

Geena Davis does a fantastic job at narrating this story of a heroic Native American girl who must sacrifice her most precious gift to save her people. Geena Davis’ narration is extremely tender, making this story extremely pleasant to listen to. Michael Hedges’ music is truly inspiring as he captures the true essence of Native American music as the music is deeply mesmerizing and magical. Karen Barbour’s illustrations are beautiful and colorful, especially of the images of the birthday pumpkin with the images of all the animals in the forest being drawn on the outside and when the scenes came where they showed the inside of the pumpkin being filled with fish, the images were mesmerizing and beautiful at the same time.

“Princess Scargo and the Birthday Pumpkin” is a wonderful tale about the power of sacrificing the things you love to save the people you love and many children will enjoy this classic tale for many years to come. I would recommend this book to children ages five and up since there are some difficult words in this book that smaller children might have a hard time understanding, such as the names of the tribes. Parents might want to help children understand the names of the tribes of the Indians by reading the names to them first.

[Ashley B. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was about a young girl who likes the animals under the water. She is fascinated by them and likes to learn about them. For her birthday she got a pumpkin filled with the fish of the lake. She loved the gift and took excellent care of the fish. However, there was one summer that was really dry and the lake by her home went dry. After some rain came in the fall, there were no fish because they all died. So Scargo, being a great princess, put all of her fish into the lake and her trio\be was immediately blessed with plentiful fish in the lake. This is a cute story of being selfless and giving back.

[Megan Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was really cute. It is about a young girl whose father is the chief of their tribe. The little girl gets a pumpkin filled with fish for her birthday. Later, the tribe has to build a lake, and the little girl can't help because she is too young. So, she does the only thing she can, which is to donate her fish to the lake. This story would be great for a lesson on doing what is best for the greater good.

[Kiersten Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale is about Princess Scargo, a Native American girl, and the present she received for her seventh birthday. The tribe that she belonged to was suffering through a drought. When Princess Scargo turned seven, she received a pumpkin that was carved, with a miniature fish inside. Although she wanted to keep her present, she gave up the fish to save her tribe from the drought. This story can teach kids about selflessness, and giving up something you want for the greater good.

[Jasmine Stocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great example of an uncommonly know traditional literature piece. I say this because I have never heard of the legend of Scago's Lake and how the fish that inhabit it came about. I enjoyed this story will the beautiful picture Karen Barbour created and how lively they are. I'll have to say I will definitely remember this story for awhile.

[Remy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful art and story.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A folktale from the Nobscusset Indians about the sacrifice of Princess Scargo and how it helped feed her people after a long drought. She received many gifts from other tribes as she was the daughter of a leader, but her most prized possession was the carved pumpkin with miniature fish that she received for her 7th birthday. After digging a place for a new lake to provide for the Nobscusset, Princess Scargo released the fish into the lake.

I am not fond of these types of illustrations with dark, dusky colors and bold lines. The text is a little too long and in depth for the age group it is aimed at. However, it retells a folktale that wouldn't necessarily be familiar to most people.

[Ashley Lahr]

This book is about a Chief Indian whos wife died during child birth. His daughter lived and she loves animals especially the ones in the water. On the daughters 7th birthday all of the chiefs bring presents for the young girl. She gets one very special present that nobody has ever received. A great pumpkin with carvings of animals all over it. In the pumpkin are all the different kinds of fish that live in the water. Soon a big drought strikes and the river dries up, they decide they must make one that is bigger so that it can stand any drought, now there are no fish left except the ones in the pumpkin. She releases them into their new home

[Jeremiah Benjamin · Rating 5 out of 5]

We borrowed this book for Classical Conversations Cycle 1.


My kids - 6, 4 and 2 - all loved the story and requested that we read it several times! The artwork is very fitting and the kids loved pointing out details they spotted.


The story generated a few questions and really roused their curiosity. For many days after that they would act out scenarios about Scargo and her fish.


Highly recommended!

[Brittany Cullen]

The princess fell in love with the littlest things and everyone judged her. There was a pumpkin that filled with water and fish and the fish were slowly dying but they got dumped into the lake that the princess loved to swim in and then everyone else enjoyed the water also. This was a fun tale to read and can teach about enjoying the little things and not letting peoples judgement stop you from what you love.

[Alex]

This book is about a Native American tribe who loses all the fish because of a drought. The princess wants to help but she is too small but decides that she can replenish the lake with her fish from her pumpkin.

[Denise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a favorite of ours, especially since we love Cape Cod.

[Sierra Dirksen · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about a young Native American princess that loves animals. She is given a pumpkin with fish inside for her birthday. One year there was a drought. Eventually the tribe decided to make a new lake, but there were no fish. The princess then made the sacrifice to give up her fish for the betterment of the tribe. I did not like this book very much, it did not seem like there was a clear meaning behind it. Overall, it would not be a go to children's book for me.