Jingle Dancer (Module 4)

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. Jingle Dancer. Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu, illus. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN: 9780688162412.

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Jenna wants to dance at the next powwow, but she needs to find enough jingles for her dress. She finds that she can borrow a line of jingles from different women in her life so that her own dress can have jingles as well.

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Jingle Dancer is a wonderful contemporary story of a young girl who is both Muscogee (Creek) Nation and Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe). The emphasis of Cynthia Leitich Smith seems to be pointing to how Native Americans live today. Jenna lives in Oklahoma in a neighborhood that looks like it could be just about anywhere USA. She practices her dance steps by watching a recording of her grandmother dance on TV. The women who cannot dance are selling flatbread, working as lawyers, or unable physically to dance. The text emphasizes that Native Americans are not a historical people that no longer exist. They are living lives that any reader could relate to in some way.

The illustrations are light and airy. They show a variety of face structures, skin colors, and decorating styles among the characters. There is nothing stereotyped about how these Native Americans are depicted. The illustrations of Jenna dancing are especially beautiful as they show the grace of the dance and a varied community in the blur of the audience.

Children should be able to relate to Jenna wanting to be old enough to do something. They will like how she solved the problem herself by asking her community to help her. As is important to this culture, the theme of four (needing four rows of jingles) is prevalent as well as respect for elders and the importance of community. Jingle Dancer is a great example of contemporary Native American literature and can help readers relate to this culture. An author's note and glossary conclude the book and help educate readers more on cultural aspects they may not have understood.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S)

• School Library Journal: a welcome addition to stories about traditions passed down by the women of a culture.
• Publisher's Weekly: Smith, a mixed-blood member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, convincingly juxtaposes cherished Native American tradition and contemporary lifestyle in this smooth debut.
• Kirkus Reviews:  A useful portrayal of an important cultural event in a Creek girl's year. 

5. CONNECTIONS

• Cynthia Leitich Smith has a website that is full of wonderful resources. She has four pages of teacher's guides on this book that include an overview with other websites to visit, prereading questions, comprehension questions, and bloom's multiple intelligence discussion questions and projects. Use these to lead students in discussions that will help them with text-to-text, text-to-self, and text-to-world connections.
• Cornelius Van Wright and Ying-Hwa Hu have had great careers as illustrators. The interview that is on Cynthia Leitich Smith's website talks about how they got started in illustrating and some of the works they have done. Another interview on The Brown Bookshelf with Van Wright talks a little more about the multicultural aspects of their illustrations. Do an illustrator study on these two and have students look at the multicultural aspects of the different characters. Have them note different features, skin tones, home environments, etc. Ask them to talk about what they can learn from simply “reading” the illustrations.
• Other Native American picture books with contemporary settings:
  
  Manuel, Margaret. I See Me. ISBN: 978-1-894778-85-5.
  
  
  Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. The Christmas Coat: Memories of My Sioux Childhood ISBN: 9780823421343.
  
  
  Tingle, Tim. Saltypie: A Choctaw Journey from Darkness into Light. ISBN: 9781933693675.