PETOSKEY, MI -- Fourth and fifth graders in Petoskey have something new to read tonight.
Each student received a new book filled with short Odawa tales thanks to the community encouraging local history.
Children’s eyes and ears were glued to Ron Fowler Wednesday as he read an Odawa tale called "Sweet Discovery," a tale on how maple syrup was discovered by Native Americans. This story is just one of about a dozen in “Waganakising: Stories from the Mural.”
“It really takes advantage of a number of different things, one is connections, because sometimes history when you read it is out there, it's something that always happens to somebody else, and you don't always make the connection we're making now," says Fowler.
The Petoskey District Library worked with the Odawa Tribe to pick out a few local tales to put in the book and the illustrations are from this mural inside the library. Thanks to community support, each fourth and fifth grader in Petoskey will get a copy.
"It’s a wonderful piece of literature for us to have, and we study legends in fourth grade, so it's perfect to have a mentor text to try to teach the kids how to unite their own legends, and just the donation for the community," says Kristin Frey, a fourth grade Lincoln Elementary School teacher.
"We wanted to honor the storytellers, who were the libraries of their time, and pass those stories down," says Fowler.
The Harbor-Petoskey Community Foundation and the Petoskey Rotary Club helped make the book distribution possible. Students say to read history about where they live is exciting.
“The book sounds really fun. I love local legends, so it's nice to have a book like that," says student Kristian.
“It just really interests me because I read some of it, and it sounds great, and I really like learning more about it," says another student named Emma.
Fourth and fifth graders in Harbor Springs, Concord Academy, and Harbor Light will also get a copy of the book.
