JINGLE DANCER- Smith

Smith, Cynthia Leitich. 2000. JINGLE DANCER. New York: Morrow Junior Books. ISBN: 0-688-16241-X
Summary:
Jenna dreams of dancing at the next powwow, but does not have the jingles to make her dress “sing.” She goes from one important woman in her life to the next asking to “borrow enough jingles to make a row.” Each time Jenna asked for just one row “not wanting to take so many that (each of the woman’s) dresses would lose its voice.” Jenna will dance for Great- aunt Sis whose legs ached”, “Mrs. Scott who sold fry bread”, “Elizabeth who worked on her big case”, and for “Grandma Wolfe, who warmed like Sun.” Jenna was able to dance the Jingle Dance and carry on the tradition she loved watching her grandma do on the television.
Analysis:
Smith has set this book in a contemporary neighborhood as we see the houses when Jenna walks down the street to see “Great-Aunt Sis” to ask for jingles and in Mrs. Scott’s kitchen of her “brand – new duplex” with modern appliances and then Jenna helps her cousin Elizabeth “late from the law firm” into her apartment. Within the words and the illustrations we see friends, neighbors and family in contemporary settings. Smith identifies the Native American heritage through food and sounds as Jenna is daydreaming “at the kitchen table tasting honey on fry bread,” and continues with “her heart beating to the brum, brum, brum of the powwow drum. Jenna wants to “jingle dance” and hear the tink ,tink, tink of the jingles. Jenna holds a feather in her hand and thinks about the rows of jingles she needs. The number four is important as Smith lets the reader know in the Author’s Notes section because many “Native people” believe four symbolizes the “four seasons, four directions, four stages of life and four colors of man” and the four women that give Jenna a row of jingles. Smith continued are authenticity of the tradition of the Jingle Dance as she Jenna and Grandma worked together on the “dance regalia.” Wright and Hu illustrate the dress with the jingles, the moccasin boots, scarf around her neck and the feather in her hand and the reader can see her hair in one long braid. The beautiful watercolor illustrations fill in the details of the full “dance regalia.” Smith uses many phrases that express the time of day such as, “As Moon kissed the Sun good night”, ”As Sun arrived at midcircle,” “As Sun caught a glimpse of the moon,” and “As Moon glowed Pale,” as Jenna goes to the four women to borrow the jingles. There was one reference of “Muscogee Creek” in the story her Great – aunt Sis tells about the bat. We find out in the Author’s Note that Jenna was a member of the “Muscogee (Creek) Nation. The Author’s Note and glossary were very helpful in bringing a better understanding to significance of the jingle dance and the powwow.

Reviews & Awards
Book Links (A.L.A.) 03/01/04 Publishers Weekly 05/15/00
Booklist 05/15/00 School Library Journal 07/01/00
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books 07/01/00 Teacher Librarian 02/01/09
Choice 01/01/01 Wilson's Children 10/01/10
Booklist (Vol. 96, No. 18 (May 15, 2000))
Ages 4-7. This contemporary Native American tale highlights the importance of family and community through a young girl's dream of joining the dancers at the next powwow. Jenna is a girl of Muscogee (Creek) and Ojibway (Chippewa/Anishinabe) descent. She has practiced the steps for the jingle dance by following her grandmother's moves on a video. Now she must get enough jingles (traditionally made of tin, aluminum, or gold canning lids rolled into cones) to sew on her dress to make a satisfying "tink, tink" as she dances. The way Jenna gathers her jingles (borrowing enough to make a row, but not so many that the lender's dress will "lose its voice"), and her promise to dance for the women who cannot dance for themselves illustrate the importance of family and community ties. The colorful, well-executed watercolor illustrations lend warmth to the story. A note explaining Jenna's heritage and a brief glossary are appended.

Horn Book (Fall 2000)
Jenna, who lives in a suburban Oklahoma neighborhood, is of Muscogee and Ojibway descent. She borrows jingles--metal cones--from four important women in her life, so that her jingle dress will have its own voice for her first powwow dance. Dance regalia and modern-day life are ably depicted in fluid watercolors. The text's folkloric style is sometimes at odds with the contemporary story. Glos.

Kirkus Review (April 15, 2000)
A contemporary Native American girl follows in her grandmother's footsteps (literally and figuratively), dancing the traditional jingle dance at the powwow. Jenna, a member of the Creek Nation in Oklahoma, dreams of dancing the jingle dance with the women of her tribe and is delighted when her grandmother tells her that she can dance with the other girls at the next powwow. But there is one problem--there won't be enough time to order the materials to make the four rows of jingles that are attached to the dress. If Jenna wants to hear the tink, tink, tink sound that the tin jingles make, she'll have to figure out a way to get the jingles on her own. Fortunately, Jenna is resourceful and knows just what to do. She visits great-aunt Sis, her friend Mrs. Scott, and cousin Elizabeth and borrows a row of jingles from each of them. (Jenna can only borrow one row of jingles apiece--otherwise each dress will lose its "voice.") While the problem of finding the jingles on her own doesn't seem challenging enough for the approbation Jenna receives at the end of the story for her resourcefulness, children will enjoy watching her figure out the solution to her problem. The watercolor illustrations clearly and realistically depict what is happening in the story. The layout of the book is straightforward--mostly double-page spreads that extend all the way to the edges of the paper. Jenna lives in what looks like a nice suburban house, the others seem solidly middle-class, and cousin Elizabeth is a lawyer. The author is deliberately showing us, it would seem, that all Native Americans are not poor or live on rundown reservations. A useful portrayal of an important cultural event in a Creek girl's year. (author's note, glossary) (Picture book. 5-9)

Connections:
This is an excellent read aloud book for first grade students.
After going to Cynthia Leitich Smith’s website I have so many more Ideas to use in my classroom,
I could rewrite many of the suggestions she has for JINGLE DANCER,but I recommend going to her website and investigating all the activities she has in her teacher guides for JINGLE DANCER.
The guide includes: Overview, Pre- reading, Comprehension and Multiple Intelligence
There are additional websites that include dancing and powwows, music, video, teaching guides.

http://www.cynthialeitichsmith.com/index.html
I am looking forward to including this book and the activities in my teaching next year.