Book Review 5

Bibliography
Goble, Paul. 1993. The Lost Children: the boys who were neglected. Ill. Paul Goble. New York, New York: Aladdin Paperbacks. ISBN 9780758730336.

Plot Summary
The Lost Children begins by reminding us that children are God’s greatest gift, but sometimes we neglect to appreciate them. In this story by Paul Goble, six brothers from a Native American tribe are neglected after their parents’ death, starving and without clothes. Camp dogs are their only friends, and nobody else is kind to them or wants them around. Hoping to find another home, they decide to be stars and are lifted to the Above World. Sun Man and Moon Woman adopt them, and Sun Man decides to punish those who were not good the children by allowing heat to cause the Earth, people, and animals to suffer. The only reason the heat ends is because the leader of the dogs prays for pity, and Sun Man feels bad for punishing everyone when he only wanted to punish those who were cruel to the children. The Lost Children are now called the Pleiades and can be seen in the Above World as a reminder of the neglect they endured and the gift that children are.

Critical Analysis

Goble’s story, based on a Blackfoot myth about the origin of Pleiades, is written in simple language, a folktale with a moral that is easy to understand for all audiences. Sadness saturates the page as the description of how these children are treated is revealed: objects are thrown at them, others flaunt their new clothes in front of the children, no effort is made to even pretend they are wanted. Goble’s story is a study in how society sometimes treats those without a place who have no one to protect them.

The illustrations give the story a dreamlike quality that fits in well with the folktale. The background is adorned with teepees with unique designs on each. This backdrop helps create the perfect setting for the rest of the story. As the children become stars, they float upward against blue colors, seeming to fly. The villagers, shaded in all brown with indistinguishable features, still mange to look cold, even without faces or features to see their expressions. Goble is able to use color and motion to portray the cruelty permeating from these characters. The sadness on the children’s faces is apparent though we never get an extremely close look of their features. Goble’s magic is his ability to draw his characters as if they live in a far way world but still make the reader feel an intense connection to their situation and pain.

Review Excerpts
“Goble's work here, as in the past, is notable both for its graphic design and for the narrative it adorns.” School Library Journal

“Goble tells this story with earnest simplicity, a gentle cadence to his words imbuing the text with particular significance.” Publishers Weekly

Connections
*Read Her Seven Brothers by Goble with students and compare how the seven brothers and their sister became the Big Dipper with how the lost children became Pleiades.
*Read Girl Who Loved Wild Horses by Goble and compare the use of animals in this story with the use of the dogs in The Lost Children. Have students create a chart or Venn diagram showing the similarities and differences.