Knots on a Counting Rope

Title: Knots on a Counting Rope

Author: Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Illustrator: Ted Rand

Genre: Multicultural

Grade Level: 1-5

Have you ever asked your relatives to tell you the story of how you were born? If so, then does it have a special meaning to you? In his book Knots on a Counting Rope Bill Martin Jr. tells a story of a blind Native American boy who loves to hear the story of his birth and upbringing. The story of his coming to the world helps the boy to overcome his greatest challenge – blindness.

Knots on a Counting Rope brings the reader to a Native American village, where a boy named Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses and his Grandfather are sitting around the campfire under a sky filled with stars the boy can’t see. Boy-Strength-of-Blue-Horses begs his grandfather to grace him with one more telling of the boy’s own life and the Rainbow horse he rides. He is blind, but that doesn’t prevent him enjoying his life through seeing the colors, the rainbow, the sunrise, the morning in his own way that give him happiness in his life. Even though the boy didn’t win in the horse race, his grandfather persuades him that he “raced darkness and won” that he sees with his heart and that is more important. As the grandfather tells the boy’s birth and struggle for life, he tries to help the child face the challenge of blindness. Every time the grandfather tells the story of the boy’s life, he ties a knot on a counting rope to help his blind grandson understand the passage of time. He also prepares the child to be ready and strong when the grandfather will not be with him anymore. And as the boy doesn’t like that the grandfather just adds that his love will always surround him “with the strength of blue horses”.

The book is characterized and interpreted in many different ways. It can be classified under different types of genre including multicultural, traditional literature, myths and poetry but I want to underline its multicultural features. The story is told from a Native American point of view and discloses that culture’s traditions and beliefs. It brings the reader right to the setting of Native Americans. I love the beautiful illustrations that make the story even more alive. In different shadows of night and deep features of man and boy’s faces the illustrator hides the love, courage, strength and hope. Even though some critics admit that there are multiple cultural inaccuracies in the story, I think it bring so much respect to Native Americans and their traditions.

                I definitely will include this book in my classroom library and read it with my children. It can be used in Elementary school classroom in grades 1-5. It covers multiple topics and themes. It can be used in Social Studies Unit about Native Americans; it can be used to talk about blindness, overcoming difficulties, strength, family love, and importance of storytelling, traditions, poetry and other themes that I haven’t thought of.

The book can be used different grade level from 1 to 5, depending on the purpose.

Reading Standards for Literature K–5

Grade 3 Students:

RL.3.2. Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text.

RL.3.3. Describe characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain how their actions contribute to the sequence of events.

RL.3.6. Distinguish their own point of view from that of the narrator or those of the characters.

RL.3.7. Explain how specific aspects of a text’s illustrations contribute to what is conveyed by the words in a story (e.g., create mood, emphasize aspects of a character or setting).

RL.3.MA.8.A. Identify elements of fiction (e.g., characters, setting, plot, problem, solution) and elements of poetry (e.g., rhyme, rhythm, figurative language, alliteration, onomatopoeia).

Grade 4 Students:

RL.4.6. Compare and contrast the point of view from which different stories are narrated, including the difference between first- and third-person narrations.

R.L.4.7.  Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text.

Grade 5 Students:

RL.5.2. Determine a theme of a story, drama, or poem from details in the text, including how characters in a story or drama respond to challenges or how the speaker in a poem reflects upon a topic; summarize the text.

RL.5.7. Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem).