This unusu­al sto­ry, set in 1898, fea­tures a boy who has a Jew­ish father and an Indi­an moth­er, a rare and inter­est­ing com­bi­na­tion, and the sto­ry brings the two parts of his back­ground togeth­er in a cre­ative and sen­si- tive way. The sym­bols on Elan’s tal­lit sig­ni­fy his dual nation­al her­itage. The Amer­i­can Indi­an ones show yel­low for the sun, blue for the corn, white for the rocks, red for moth­er earth and green for the grass while, woven among those col­ors are the Jew­ish sym­bols, a star of David and the Ten Com­mand­ments. There is also an oak tree, which relates to Elan’s Hebrew name, which means tree and is also the word for friend­ly in the Indi­an lan­guage. His moth­er reminds him that although she has joined the Jew­ish com­mu­ni­ty, he is ​“the son of two proud nations, whose roots are as stur­dy and deep as this oak tree.” The beau­ty of the name lies in its dou­ble mean­ing reflect­ed in the dou­ble her­itage he carries. 

The art is soft, gen­tle and pret­ty, reflect­ing the desert hues though this review­er might like to see a bit more color. 

A glos­sary and his­tor­i­cal note out­lin­ing the sto­ry of the Bibo fam­i­ly, on whom this sto­ry is based, are appended. 

Rec­om­mend­ed for ages 5 – 9.