Why I wrote this book
When I started my first children's fiction book, there was a grand theme developed that, if followed, could produce three books. Each book would stand on its own. Each book would also, flow from the previous one. Each book would be written for an older generation of readers, following the learning progression of our three grandchildren.
In The Buried Papers the cousins found a rock - it looked like a carved Indian. In the second book, The Lost Talisman the cousins time-travelled with that rock to a Dakota Indian village and learned it was a powerful Dakota Talisman one of four talismans.
During my journey to learn background for the stories, I gained a deep appreciation for the Dakota people and their history. It was difficult to gain a clear understanding of these people because the white man broke the tradition of verballing passing knowledge on from one generation to another. The more difficult it became to learn about the People, the harder I tried.
The end result is that the third book, Return of the Talisman emerged as more of an opportunity to share what I learned about Dakota history and culture than to focus on the cousins and their growth. Of course, I tried to do both.
When I started my first children's fiction book, there was a grand theme developed that, if followed, could produce three books. Each book would stand on its own. Each book would also, flow from the previous one. Each book would be written for an older generation of readers, following the learning progression of our three grandchildren.
In The Buried Papers the cousins found a rock - it looked like a carved Indian. In the second book, The Lost Talisman the cousins time-travelled with that rock to a Dakota Indian village and learned it was a powerful Dakota Talisman one of four talismans.
During my journey to learn background for the stories, I gained a deep appreciation for the Dakota people and their history. It was difficult to gain a clear understanding of these people because the white man broke the tradition of verballing passing knowledge on from one generation to another. The more difficult it became to learn about the People, the harder I tried.
The end result is that the third book, Return of the Talisman emerged as more of an opportunity to share what I learned about Dakota history and culture than to focus on the cousins and their growth. Of course, I tried to do both.
Return of the Talisman
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