Call It Courage

Call It Courage
By: Armstrong Sperry
Multicultural

This book is about a boy named Mafatu, the son of Tavana Nui, who was the great chief of the Hikueru people. Mafatu feared the sea, possibly because that was were his mother's canoe was swept away when he was only three years old. While he survived, she died shortly after reaching the shore. Mafatu struggled to fit in because his people wondered how someone who was afraid of the sea could ever become a great fishermen. They were sure that "Stout Heart" (Mafatu) would never earn his place in the tribe. After the boys in the village continued to laugh and make fun of him he decided that he would have to gain courage and face the seas. With his albatross Kivi and his dog Uri, he set out to sea in his canoe. When a storm came he lost all of his weapons, food and the clothes on his back. When the canoe hit something, the boy and his dog were flung into the water where they swam to the island. While exploring the island he discovered an idol that had bones all around it and he realized he was on the Forbidden Island, where there were "eaters of men." He became thrilled when he touched the marae and got a spearhead to hunt the while bull, because he knew this act took courage Mafatu thought about how proud his father would be when he found out he had built his own shelter, cooked food from the fruits of the island, found or made his own weapons and started a fire. He was determined that when he returned home they would never again call him the "boy who was afraid." When a shark breaks open his fish trap and begins to go after his dog Uri, Mafatu has no choice but to save his companion and stabs the shark; killing it. Still brave, Mafatu was able to kill the wild boar he had his eyes on the whole time on the island. After he finished building his canoe, he was forced to dive into the deep dark waters and fight an octopus when trying to retrieve his knife. The day he was going to head back to Hikueru he was woken by the arrival of the "eaters of men." When he got on his canoe to escape they chased after him and he began to pray for Maui (the God of the Fishermen) help once more. When Kivi arrived he was finally directed back home where he arrived to a very proud father. He collapsed in his fathers arms.

Personally, I would probably not recommend this book to my students just because I didn't particularly enjoy it. I felt that at times it became boring and that exciting events would happy occasionally. If my students were to read this book there are a few ideas I have for activities in the classroom. Since the ending of this book is kind of vague you could ask your students to write a continuation of what they think will happen next. They may interpret the ending as Mafatu died in his fathers arms or they make just assume he passed out from exhaustion. This book could also be used in an art lesson. You could have your students work in teams to build small canoes with sails similar to what Mafatu built and then have them test them out on water using a fan to see whose canoe travels fastest,farthest,etc. I think that students could really enjoy this activity because it allows them to be creative and who doesn't love a fun competition?