A touching story of a grandfather and his blind grandson.

I can truly appreciate the fact that I was thrown for a loop when the page flipped and the illustration revealed that the child "born with a darkness" was actually blind. It was handled succinctly and without fanfare, and that's what makes it amazing. The Grandfather character chooses his words well, describing his grandson's blindness as a fact of life. He reminds the boy, and the audience, that the boy's existence is a miracle and that blindness isn't a curse. Despite his condition, the boy is...

Beautiful, beautiful art!I loved everything about this story. I loved the way the text was situated as to represent the back-and-forth conversation between grandfather and grandson. I loved that even though the grandson insisted, the grandfather would not promise to "be there always", but in a very gentle way. I loved all the indigenous costumes depicted. (This book seems to have been written pre-2000's, and I hope they did their research into those costumes.)I love, LOVE that it's not until ove...

Genre: Biography Grade Range: 3rd-4th Book Review: I always get excited to find out one of the books I have chosen has a cultural theme! I strongly believe that American Indian culture is not taught enough in school. I also love the connection between the son and the grandfather. I would like to see more books like this! The metaphor for life is so interesting! I like how hopeful and excited the boy is. I believe this book can teach the lesson that sometimes things we think will limit us are jus...

Knots on a Counting Rope is a children’s book about a little boy who is blind. In the story, there is a Native American boy and his grandfather. The boy, “By-Strength-Of-Blue-Horses” was born blind and is searching for confidence in himself. In order to do this, he asks his grandfather to retell the story of his birth and life. Throughout the story, the grandfather tells of how the family didn’t think the boy would live and how he overcame many dark mountains in his life. He found a love in hors...

I found this historical fiction well written and attention-grabbing. It tells the story of a young Native American boy born with blindness, searching for confidence despite his disability. As the well-developed plot unfolds, readers will understand that confidence and how you view yourself is determined by internal qualities and not the physical attributes society so presses. The storyline is action-packed and filled with moments that will both intrigue and surprise young readers. The book is st...

Awards: NoneGrade level: PreK-2Summary: Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horse asked his grandfather to tell his story of his birth, his first horse and race. Every time his grandfather retells the the story, they tie a knot in a rope; when the rope is filled with knots, he will know the story by heart.My Review I like this book because you can also follow the story through the illustrations. This book would be great in the classroom because it teaches about Native Americans, shares the special connection w...

I didn't bother to finish this book. I was reading it to my 6 year old and the cultural inaccuracies were fairly blatant. The unfortunate thing is that this could have been a decent book had they just not tried to make it a Native American book. This is why the most commonly given book advice is, 'write what you know'. Additionally, if you are writing about something you do not know, research the heck out of it. That doesn't feel like it happened here. This book isn't a negative portrayal of Nat...

I’m not sure what constitutes as a classic indigenous children’s book but this one was wonderful. A beautiful reflection on the passage of our lives. A book that reflect the inter generational love between grandfather and grandson. All done tastefully with gorgeous paintings. I would have loved the creators biographies to know if any of the three were native and to which nation they belonged but I couldn’t find any. Knowing the nation of the story helps to avoid pan- indianism.

I really liked the idea of storytelling, of the connection between grandfather and grandson, of passing wisdom and knowledge from one generation to another, of learning to live with and overcoming a disability, and of the strength of family. However, as an educator I found some aspects of this book problematic. I think that there are benefits in teaching multicultural literature but we need to be careful that we are not teaching and promoting stereotypes and inaccurate and inauthentic stories. T...

This book is about Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses, who is told of his life story by his grandfather. When Boy was born, he was very sick and ill. His parents didn’t know if he was going to make it or not. His grandfather took him outside where two blue horses were running and stopped by to see this little boy. Boy reached out to touch them and his grandfather could feel the blue horses giving Boy the strength he needs to live. This is where he got his name. Boy had a connection with the blue horses...

The story of a native boy and his grandfather recounting the story of the boy's life and birth. This book's art was really pretty. It portrays the story in a really beautiful way. The story is told through a lot of dialogue which really helps reveal the personalities of both of the characters in a really cool way. And the fact that the boy was blind is revealed very subtly, which makes it extremely satisfying to realize. The way it was written, the book is excellent. The book would have been a r...

Title: Knots on a Counting RopeAuthor: Bill MartinPublished: 1987Age Range: Summary: "A grandfather and his blind grandson, Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses, reminisce about the young boy's birth, his first horse, and an exciting horse race."Review: I thought this book was really cute because it included a boy who is blind. I often feel like those with disabilities are often hidden, but this book embraces the diversity of disability. This book would be cool to include in a class library, or done as a...

This is a difficult book to review because on the one hand it is a moving and poetic account of a little boy's (formally named "By-Strength-of-Blue Horses") eagerly asking and prompting his grandfather to tell the story of the boy's own life, a story that, when it is completed, is marked by a knot on a counting rope. As the story is told, the boy's blindness is revealed, which makes more suspenseful the episode of a horse race among this boy and others. That is what makes the counting rope perti...

Does your library own this book? Time to weed it: https://web.archive.org/web/200803031...

Elementary. This book concerns me. It is very popular in the education world-- written and illustrated by two very reputable names in children's literature. Although well-intentioned, this book is offensive to native peoples (See the Oyate site), and unless you are a part of the culture you might not know it. The main problems: costume is not unique to any one tribe-- very general in grouping Native tribes together--and not appropriate, along with some of the imagery and behavior. There are bett...

Knots on a Counting Rope, written by Bill Martin Jr., and John Archambault, and Illustrated by Ted Rand - is definite Goodread!Children often want to hear the story of how they were born - retold by a loved one, and Knots on a Counting Rope, is the imaginative story of a boy being told again the tale of how he was born - as told by his grandfather. The story the grandfather tells is a poetic journey, vividly illustrated, and one that has a great surprise for the reader!Readers who enjoy Knots on...

Knots on a Counting Rope is about a boy and his grandfather as they sit around the fire the boy begs his grandfather to tell the story about how the boy got his name. The grandfather tells the boy this will be his last time and he goes on to tell the story of how he got his name through the storm and rodeo. The knots on the counting rope are a metaphor for the boy's courage and his overall challenge of being blind. I would definitely use this book in my class. The author does a great job of keep...

Knots on a Counting Rope (Reading Rainbow Book) by Bill Martin Jr., John Archambault, illustrated by Ted Rand is a poignant yet controversial story of a young blind Native American boy, with the counting rope used as a metaphor for both the passage of time and the emerging confidence of the boy.The text is spare and poetic. It promotes confidence and belief in oneself. It also is postive in the value of storytelling and the bond between a grandson and grandfather.The illustrations are evocative

There are some very valid points about cultural inaccuracies and blending many tribes into one, and I hear them. I don’t think I would use this book in the classroom. My five stars are probably mainly sentimental. My kindergarten teacher gave me this book and some of my earliest childhood memories were looking at the beautiful illustrations and retelling the story to myself before I could read. The storytelling grandfather reminds me of my own, the illustrations are gorgeous, and I cry every tim...