Encounter (Voyager Books)

"Encounter" is a powerful children's book that retells the story of Christopher Columbus's arrival through the eyes of a young Taino boy. Yolen's lyrical writing and Shannon's expressive illustrations capture the emotion and tension of this historical moment, offering a poignant and thought-provoking narrative. The book tackles complex themes of colonization and loss in a way that's accessible to young readers, making it an essential read for those looking to explore history from a different perspective. Great quality print. Highly recommended.

Wonderful pictures and the dialog. The book is written in metaphors so it is perfect for studying/teaching metaphor and similie.

Great Book for different POV of the first encounter for kids. I read it to my 5th grade class and they were really into it. There are a bunch of amazing examples of showing details in this book. A great link between social studies and ELA!

I love the way Jane Yolen tackles tough topics in such an accessible way for young readers. It's a great book to help young people think through what has, what can, what could, and what should happen when cultures collide. When I taught Social Studies this was my go to book for discussions about some of the sad, somber outcomes of European exploration and greed. You can even draw connections between this story and other groups that are being currently displaced or disadvantaged by other groups' progress. Also the book contains a great deal of figurative language. When I used it for ELA, I would read a portion.It's a very long book to read in one sitting. And then later or the next day I would pick out sentences/phrases from the text and have students identify the type of figurative language. There are also several moments that require readers' to make inferences This is a strong mentor text, on so many levels.

I bought this book as a method of teaching my history class about explorers from the point of view of the Native Americans. Although the book was an effective method, the book itself was a little depressing. Also, some of the pictures were a little much for the 4th graders that I had intended it for. For example, one picture showed a little female nudity, albeit in shadow, but the outline was there. Overall, I think the book was very well written, and the story was easy to understand. However, I would be cautious as to what age level I read the book to.

I bought this book to read with my 1st grader for Indigenous People's Day. It sparked a lot of really great conversations. The illustrations are beautiful and it provides a much needed perspective in a way that is easily understood by even young kids. We are thrilled to have this in our home library.

As a teacher who gets tired of students learning about the AMAZING Columbus who founded America (yes students often are lead to think this) I was thrilled to find this book. It does show some of the negative impacts of colonization and is enjoyable also. The author speaks about the research done in order to write the book, so that's always a plus! Heck, my students are all 12+ and I read it to them. Having the Kindle version was great, and now I can come back to it next year without having to dig out a physical book for 1 day!

Love this book. I used it to pair together social studies and reading to teach different points of view for famous historical events, and it just works so well as a beautifully illustrated alternative to the story most students hear about the arrival of the European explorers. I had to translate the book for my immersion students, but I felt the base text is very appropriate for upper elementary students.

I’ve used this book for many years with students spanning from junior high to adulthood. The book is beautifully written and has wonderful illustrations. It is an excellent opener for discussing a myriad of topics. A must for any bookshelf or teacher library.

Excellent book for teaching inferencing and grade 5 social studies.