The LEGEND Of SCARFACE. A Blackfeet Indian Tale.

by Robert D. San Souci

A retelling of a Blackfeet Indian legend in which a young brave travels to the land of the Sun to ask for the hand of his beloved.

Genres: Native American, Childrens, American History, History, Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1920

About the author

Robert Daniel San Souci (October 10, 1946 – December 19, 2014) was a multiple award-winning children's book author, who resided in San Francisco, California. He often worked with his brother, Daniel San Souci, a children's book illustrator. He was a consultant to Disney Studios and was instrumental in the production of the film Mulan, for which he wrote the story. He studied folklore in graduate school. He died after suffering a head injury while falling from a high height in San Francisco in December 2014. He was only 68 years old.

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a Native American folktale that is sort of like a male Cinderella story with a teensy-weensy splash of Beauty & Beast (ish).

In this, a young boy with ugly scars and nothing to his name is not-so-secretly in love with the beautiful daughter of the tribe's chief, who every brave in the tribe wants for a wife. Scarred, broke, and in love with royalty, now that's a guy with more ambition than sense, you'll say, and I'll agree.

Only, the young man does have pluck and, on the suggestion of the chief's daughter that's fed up with the vain "other guys" and wanting him to succeed, goes and asks the chief for her hand. What does he have to offer? Nothing, but he's willing to earn her hand in marriage. The chief sends him on an impossible errand to the land of the sun to fetch him some sort of token to prove himself worthy of his daughter. Undeterred, the boy accepts.

I did tell you he had more ambition than sense...

But he's a good and loving boy, he helps animals and is kind to everyone, so the animals help him find the path to the land of the sun, where he stumbles into and saves the sun's son from peril and in gratitude earns the right to fetch what he's come to bring for his chief, thus winning his daughter's hand.

Now this is the sort of Sexy Scarred (ish) trope I don't mind...

What I liked from this tale was that the story is all about kindness and selflessness, there's no grand heroics to prove oneself a manly man. The hero earns his reward with his heart, not his muscles. And the artwork is very nice, colourful, and well-placed to highlight the scenes it illustrates.

Worth having!

[Melinda Christensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This remarkable legend with meticulously drawn pictures draw the reader into a whole new world. I grew up around Blackfeet Indians, so this book was of great interest to me. Scarface lived with his grandmother because his parents were dead, and he had been born with a mark on his cheek. The other children made fun of him because of the mark and his poverty, so he made friends with animals and birds, learning their language. He met a gentle, beautiful young maiden, Singing Rains, whom he desired to betroth, however, she had made a promise to the Sun that she would never wed. This legend tells how. with the help of his animal and bird friends, he made his way to the Lodge of the Sun, performed a brave act, and received permission to wed Singing Rains. It's a beautiful, meaningful legend.

[Kelley Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clear that at least my library copy is older before computer renderings were a thing. The story is good, well written and well developed. The text is in a large font and the margins, especially top and bottom, just feel "off" to me. Yeah, yeah, I know, first world problems. :).

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The boys and I loved this one.

[Andrew Schoenfelder]

The art stood out in this book and did a very good job displaying the Indian culture and surroundings. Every picture had bright colors and the Indian dresses were vivid and colorful. The pictures look like they are painted, possibly watercolors, done with great precision and detail. In South Dakota, Native American literature is required and this book could be very entertaining for students and could fit into the curriculum. Indian tales can be enjoyable for students if told right and if they are informed with good background knowledge of the culture.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I really liked about this story was that the message was explicitly stated within the book: "word of kindness travels fast, from heart to heart". Children would really enjoy this story, I think, but there are not pictures on every page, so even though there are some beautiful illustrations, younger kids might be bored with just looking at words on the page. I think this would be great as a "cool down" read aloud, something to read to the children while they "cool down" after lunch or recess.

[Simon Wojtaszek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, poetic and sweet, The Legend of Scarface reminds us that honesty, bravery, kindness and patience are more important by far than good looks and boastfulness.

[Sam Wojtaszek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple, poetic and sweet, The Legend of Scarface reminds us that honesty, bravery, kindness and patience are more important by far than good looks and boastfulness.

[Christine]

Nice