Budinger’s class has already read this year are “Ghost Walk,” “Turtle Dreams” and “Coyote Bead.”
“My kids just loved the books,” he said adding that the stories are deeply embedded in locations the students are familiar with, like Canyon de Chelly, the Lukachukai Mountains and Canyon del Muerta.
In Coyote Bead, the young readers are taken back to the mid 1860s giving them a glimpse of what life was like when elders passed along traditional teachings, families lived off the land and conflicts with Utes were common. The story goes on to tell about the Long Walk and little known stories on how some families managed to evade U.S. soldiers who were ravaging their lands.
“(Hausman) crosses that boundary eloquently between good writing and telling a traditional story,” said Budinger.
To further engage the students in reading, Budinger arranged a field trip to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center on April 25 to meet Hausman and to get their own personal copy of Coyote Bead to take home.
“It’s their first time meeting an author,” said Budinger. Thinking about it for a moment, he added, “Mine too.”
As Hausman autographed the students’ copies of Coyote Bead, he asked them about their favorite passages. They were ready to tell him, because they had slipped a piece of paper into the book marking where they were at.
“I think the stories are really great. There’s so much drama added to them. It makes you want to know what’s going to come up and how it’s going to get resolved,” said Courtney Williams, who added she was always surprised at the turn of events.
As she pointed to her favorite passage, Melanie Nelson said, “I liked the part where he found his grandfather on the mesa.”
“He’s a really good teacher. He has inspired them, because he’s raising the bar for them and the kids are going for it. I thought Coyote Bead was above (4th/5th grade) level,” said Hausman.
The story of Coyote Bead that brings unexpected happenings, keeping both the teacher and the students on the edge of their seats, also comes with a good resolution.
It ends with, “One day, we will have all the bounty that Hozhoni provides.”
At the end of the night, the students closed their books for now and headed back home.
But, that’s not the end of the story. Budinger said that his class will continue reading Hausman’s books.
That was just fine with Armida Murphey, who exclaimed, “I want to read more!”
NAVAJO TIMES | COLLEEN KEAN
From left to right, fourth grade Diné students Mandy Martinez, Danna Pinto, Jaylne Yesslith and Ashley Selina hold up their copies of Coyote Bead during a field trip to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center.