How Chipmunk Got His Stripes

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Bibliography

Bruchac, Joseph and James Bruchac.  Illus. by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey.  How Chipmunk Got His Stripes.  New York:Puffin, 2001.  9781404671027

Summary

It is a lovely autumn day when Bear, feeling confident, is out for a walk.  As he is walking, he chants that he is the biggest, strongest and loudest of all the animals.  Knowing this to be true, he claims to be capable of doing anything.  Little Chipmunk overhears Bear’s claim and asks if Bear can keep the sun from rising.  Certain that he is powerful enough, Bear states he can and demands the sun to stay down.  What follows is a lesson in humility for both big and small creatures.

Analysis

People have always attempted to make sense of the world.  With simple characters, a universal setting and repeating phrases, it is easy to see how this folktale was passed down through generations of Native Americans up and down the eastern coastline.  The lessons it teaches are straightforward and show the cultural values of the tribes.  Bear’s vanity, arrogance, and ultimate downfall as well as chipmunk’s lack of empathy show the importance of humility and respect to the Native people. 

The illustrations are simple, allowing the personality of the characters to shine through.  By focusing on the animals, their size and emotions are clearly transmitted.  Young readers especially will gain more meaning from the menacing face of Bear and the teasing expressions of Chipmunk then they would from the text alone.  They will be able to sympathize with bear when the sun rises as well as feel chipmunk’s fear when trying to escape from the gigantic predator.

Awards and Reviews

Bear struts through the forest, bragging as he goes: "I am Bear. I am the biggest of all the animals. Yes, I am!-I can do anything. Yes, I can!" Little Brown Squirrel elects to challenge him: "Can you tell the sun not to rise tomorrow morning?" Bear accepts the challenge. As the sun sets, he issues his command and the two settle down to see what morning will bring. As the night progresses, the braggart continues to boast, and Squirrel cannot resist teasing. When the sun predictably rises in the morning, Bear is disgruntled and angry, and his taunter foolishly continues to tease. When Bear threatens to eat the little creature, Squirrel makes a desperate dash for his burrow. He is able to escape, but not before Bear has raked his back with his sharp claws. Although the scratches heal, they leave Squirrel with long, pale stripes on his back. He is now Chipmunk, the Striped One. In their introductory authors' notes, the Bruchacs indicate that the story is an amalgam of tales they have heard from Cherokee, Abenaki, and Mohawk sources, and has further been fleshed out through their own telling over the years. The result is polished, cohesive, and energetic. While the story begs to be told, Aruego and Dewey's vibrantly hued trademark watercolors add significantly to the humor. A priority purchase for most collections.  -Grace Oliff, School Library Journal

In Bruchac and his son's (When the Chenoo Howls) serviceable retelling of a Native American pourquoi tale, Brown Squirrel challenges prideful Bear to keep the sun from rising. When the sun does rise, and Brown Squirrel teases Bear, Bear threatens to eat Brown Squirrel, and his claw marks transform the fellow into Chipmunk. Though the prose occasionally falters (e.g., "Everyone was happy except for one animal. That animal was Bear" or the advice of Brown Squirrel's grandmother, "It is good to be right about something. But when someone else is wrong, it is not a good idea to tease him"), the dialogue is effective and invites audience participation especially the repeated phrases with sound effects, as when the quarrelsome pair sit side by side all night chanting: "The sun will not come up, hummph!" and "The sun is going to rise, oooh!" Aruego and Dewey (Antarctica Antics) create lush landscapes, but Bear and Brown Squirrel are uncharacteristically bland, often featuring the same facial expressions repeatedly.  –Publishers Weekly Reviews

Connections

To highlight similar values, students could compare Hare from The Tortoise and the Hare to Bear.  A class discussion could highlight how the stories are the same and how they are different.  We know that the stories originated in different parts of the world.  What do you think is similar about the places and people where they come from?  What do you think might be different about these cultures?  Students could then write a letter to either character explaining how they should have behaved.

An author study could be done focusing on Joseph Bruchac.  Before researching Bruchac, a number of his books such as Racoon’s Last Race, Thirteen Moons on Turtle’s Back, and The First Strawberries, could be read and students could make inferences about Bruchac’s background and what he believes is important.