Baby rattlesnake cried because he had no rattle. Nothing anyone could do could appease his crying. His parents told him that he was too young to have a rattle. When he rattled his tail and no sound was heard, he cried even harder. Baby rattlesnake kept the Rattlesnake people up all night with his crying. Something had to be done. The Rattlesnake people called a council and decided for the good of the people, that baby rattlesnake would receive his rattle early. Baby rattlesnake was so elated with his rattle he sang a rattle song and danced a rattle dance. He soon began to scare animals around him for fun. Although his parents asked him not to scare others, he didn’t heed their warnings. His mischief soon leads to trouble when he decides to scare a chief’s daughter.

Non Native Americans are introduced to a story that was once only told orally.

This Native American tale was adapted by the work of a Chickasaw storyteller named Te Ata. The author’s notes explain that the story is a teaching tale about getting things sooner than needed. The notes were essential in explaining the history of the story as well as giving insight on how this oral tale became a written one. The illustrator, Veg Reisberg has captured the tale with colorful characters throughout her paintings. She used gauche paints and cut paper to create her illustrations. All pages, including ones with text have a desert setting. Each painting is framed in Southwest colors such as teal, indigo, and rust. The frames are dotted with animals and images native to the Southwest.

Human emotions are shown on the faces of all of the characters. Baby rattlesnake goes through a range of emotions from crying, joy, mischievousness, fright, and love.  Baby rattlesnake is the color of red clay with diamonds of indigo down his back. His father is portrayed with a derby hat and his mother has lovely red lips. The Chief’s daughter is described as very beautiful, neat in dress, and walking with her head held high. She wears braided hair, with brown skin, and colorful clothes and moccasins. Her home is made of earth, orange in color with a flat roof.

Unlike some books that need illustrations to help tell the tale, BABY RATTLESNAKE stands alone. The illustrations enhance the reader’s image of baby rattlesnake and his mischievousness. The illustrator brings a type of whimsy to the story with a small lizard that appears on every page. I enjoyed the story and its lesson for baby rattlesnake. The tale told through the lives of rattlesnakes only reconfirms the connection that Native Americans have with nature.