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dandelionfluff's review
5.0
I love that every story has a sources at the end, along with a short description of where it comes from! My favorite story is the one about the Chenoo. The illustrations are wonderful, and I really enjoyed learning the stories from so many tribes.
veganemelda's review
4.0
I wrote the following review for a blog on race & horror, "You Die First!" (http://fuckoffyoudiefirst.tumblr.com/)
When the Chenoo Howls is a collection of children’s scary stories from Indigenous tribes around the Northeastern United States area, printed in 1998. It begins in long-ago folklore and slowly progresses to the modern age, with tales of heros who depend on their wits, monsters that sometimes win, and naughty children. The collection has a good mix of gender representation, but no queer inclusion. There is a very handy pronunciation guide at the end of the book, and an explanation of the monster within the story at the end of each tale- along with sourced materials (some of them are traditional oral tales that have gone unpublished until this collection came out, others come from out-of-print collections decades old). Apparently Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki), the father in this father-son book collaboration, is a traditional oral storyteller and also prolific author of both children and adult stories, including adult horror.
The stories themselves are 12 “tales of terror” aimed at middle schoolers (or younger, if it’s something your kids are really into). The illustrations are simple, yet gorgeous black and white drawings that are good for the pre-”Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” crowd (read: not that scary!). I was hoping to read these to my nieces or the boy I babysit for before I returned it to my library, but alas, I didn’t get a chance to witness a child’s response to the book. I appreciate that the stories are beyond the generic spirits/ghosts- there are stone giants, animal/human hybrids, mean fairy-like people, frog/toad like monsters, even an all-out war of the animals and humans against mastodon-like creatures. In many cases, the stories are fables- short stories conveying the dangers of swamp lands and strangers, but there is definitely an emphasis against being boastful, inconsiderate, or disrespectful (especially against your family or “all of creation”). Some end sweetly (like the tale the title is taken from), some very badly (at least one entire sibling group is never heard from again), and some very predictably.
This is a great collection for children who enjoy scary stories, especially ones without the typical cast of characters (werewolves, vampires, ghosts). Depending on how easily they are scared, it can be read by themselves (although some might get frustrated with the names of some of the monsters and heros if they aren’t familiar with the languages within) or with someone older. Easily digestible, yet that much more interesting if you didn’t grow up with these particular tribes’ tales, it’s a great collection for kids just beginning to delve into horror.
When the Chenoo Howls is a collection of children’s scary stories from Indigenous tribes around the Northeastern United States area, printed in 1998. It begins in long-ago folklore and slowly progresses to the modern age, with tales of heros who depend on their wits, monsters that sometimes win, and naughty children. The collection has a good mix of gender representation, but no queer inclusion. There is a very handy pronunciation guide at the end of the book, and an explanation of the monster within the story at the end of each tale- along with sourced materials (some of them are traditional oral tales that have gone unpublished until this collection came out, others come from out-of-print collections decades old). Apparently Joseph Bruchac (Abenaki), the father in this father-son book collaboration, is a traditional oral storyteller and also prolific author of both children and adult stories, including adult horror.
The stories themselves are 12 “tales of terror” aimed at middle schoolers (or younger, if it’s something your kids are really into). The illustrations are simple, yet gorgeous black and white drawings that are good for the pre-”Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” crowd (read: not that scary!). I was hoping to read these to my nieces or the boy I babysit for before I returned it to my library, but alas, I didn’t get a chance to witness a child’s response to the book. I appreciate that the stories are beyond the generic spirits/ghosts- there are stone giants, animal/human hybrids, mean fairy-like people, frog/toad like monsters, even an all-out war of the animals and humans against mastodon-like creatures. In many cases, the stories are fables- short stories conveying the dangers of swamp lands and strangers, but there is definitely an emphasis against being boastful, inconsiderate, or disrespectful (especially against your family or “all of creation”). Some end sweetly (like the tale the title is taken from), some very badly (at least one entire sibling group is never heard from again), and some very predictably.
This is a great collection for children who enjoy scary stories, especially ones without the typical cast of characters (werewolves, vampires, ghosts). Depending on how easily they are scared, it can be read by themselves (although some might get frustrated with the names of some of the monsters and heros if they aren’t familiar with the languages within) or with someone older. Easily digestible, yet that much more interesting if you didn’t grow up with these particular tribes’ tales, it’s a great collection for kids just beginning to delve into horror.
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