Meticulously rendered color and line drawings give this book an elegant beauty. This is a good introduction to the lives of the Pueblo native Americans.

The book is readable at a first and second grade level, but is fine as a parent-child read-aloud for ages 3 - 6. Kids will probably just want to slowly leaf through the fascinating, simple pictures.

Story is told in dignified first person by a child. No plot, just short pieces on the land, traditions, animals, and people of the Pueblo.

This book explores pueblo life in many ways, but it is the elegant artwork and the lyrical writing that draw me back to its pages again and again.

There is an interesting story behind this book. Ann Nolan Clark, at that time, was working as a teacher on a reservation. The tribal elders were (rightfully so, after all the treaty breaking) suspicious of books as "white man's word" and would not let Ann introduce writing and reading to the students by bringing books onto the rez. So she taught (as was usual for her) many things at once. She taught the students to write, and while writing they learned to read by reading and sharing their own writing. She had all her students write what life was like then, and compiled them all into a collection she called, at the time, something like Our 3rd Grade Geography. Because she wanted to relieve the elders of their suspicions where books were concerned, and at the same time show the students that books were written by people -- ordinary people -- she found someone who would bind a few copies for her.

After the bound copies were returned to the reservation, the tribal elders relented and let her bring in books with which to enrich the lives of her students. The most amazing side-effect of all this was that a very good friend of hers sent a bound copy to a publisher friend and the publisher contacted Ann, then they contacted Velino Herrara, whose illustrations are perfect for the book.

A must-read for all young children. A must-look-at for all aspiring artists who want an introduction to a wonderful style. Finally, for anyone who wants the music of the pueblo to run in their heartbeats and influence their own poetry, a book to buy and cherish.

As a child, I was facinated by they different ways in which people live. This book shows readers in simple, eloquent text and illustration a way of life quite different from the way most Americans live. In doing so, it shows the universality of human living. For very young children, Come Over to My House by Theo LeSieg (aka Dr. Seuss) does the same.

Secret of the Andes by Ann Nolan Clark is a marvelous children's novel which can be very important reading for children. The beautiful novel certainly earned its Newbery Medal.

The novel is the story of Cusi. He is an Inca boy who has been raised in a remote valley of the Andes mountain range by an old man, Chuto. Cusi is of royal Inca blood, but this is four hundred years after the Spanish conquest. Cusi has been raised in the traditional Inca manner. The plot of the novel concerns Cusi's search for himself. He has been raised without a "family" (at least in the traditional sense), and he is sent from the valley, with the companionship of his pet llama, to find his path in the world, a task that he sees as finding himself a family. The world Cusi goes into is one which is very different from the one he has been raised in because the Spanish culture has become predominant. Then, Cusi is forced to come to terms with his own way of life and with what his concept of "family" should be.

Secret of the Andes is an amazing book. I think that it can be extremely important in helping children to understand the view-point of Native Americans and helping them to understand Native American literature later in life. I also found that this novel was, in ways, similar to adult novels like Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart. It aids in this understanding through a fairly simple story of a young, regular boy who can be related to. Ann Nolan Clark really created a masterpiece with Secret of the Andes.

Have you ever liked to know what it would be like to live in the Andes Mountains with a herd of llamas and an old man? This is a book about a young Incan boy whose name is Cusi and his heart's desire is to find his family.

If you like books about people with no family and people that have to travel to get them, than you will love this book!This book also has fairly easy content to understand so this book is for people 10 and older. Anyone younger than 10 the plot would probably be too complicated for.

At the beginging of this book there are two characters: Cusi and Chuto. They plan to go travel and get some salt but they can't leave their llamas, soon a minstral comes and watches their flock for them so Chuto and Cusi start off. During the journey he meets some families and a feeling of yearning to be like them overcomes Cusi.

Before embarking on his path to find his family his llama Misti leads him to a part of his vally he has never seen before. There he finds something that aids him in his search for his family. The last thing Chuto tells him before he leaves is "Greave not if your searching circles" and Cusi was off.

In all, Secret of the Andes is about a boy who has to struggle to find his family where ever it might take him.

Ann Nolan Clark's perception of places and people, and her respect for other cultures, comes through clearly in this short novel of traditions and changes in Peru.

Far ahead of today's push for diversity in school books, the book explores life themes such as the importance of family, traditions, caring for others, respecting elders, etc. Ann's genius is that she sets these themes inside the larger theme of life choices for a young boy, in a different land.

I started reading it aloud on a camping trip, the voices of the Peruvian past with its unique scents and sounds filling the tent and delighting all who listened, from the very young to the "oldsters" in the group. It is Ann's rich command of language that sets the tone of the book. It is her knowledge of the People that enriches the story. It is her striving to make the book culturally rich as well as challenging that keeps the reader (or listeners) engaged. I wish we had more books like this one in our school and home libraries.

I read a statement by Mrs. Clark once, to the effect that she always included words below and above the intended reader's level, so they would s-t-r-e-t-c-h their abilities and grow as a reader. I first read the book as a 4th grader years ago and it was a delight to revisit it. I would think that anyone at a 4th grade level could sound out the unfamiliar words, as they follow the usual rules of phonetics.

By the way, I read it aloud to my 6-7-8 combination reading class last year for listening comprehension lessons, and they couldn't wait for the next part of the story!