The Legend of the Indian Paintbrush

dePaola, T. (1988). The legend of the indian paintbrush. Hong Kong: G.P.    Putnam’s Sons. 20 pp. ISBN: 0-399-21534-4

     dePaola's story is another great story about a legend. The story is about the Indian Paintbrush, a plant. The plant got it's name from the legend of "Little Gopher", a young boy who is old enough to have his "Dream Vision". A Dream Vision happens when you are old enough to become a man. His destiny according to this vision is to become an artist. While the rest of the young men go off to fight, Little Gopher is stuck at home painting. But repeatedly he is reminded that this is the dream he is supposed to achieve. Eventually, he achieves his dream and paints the sunset. The colors of the sunset were recorded on the plant that was sitting by him when he painted it, thus called the Indian Paintbrush. His name changes to "He-Who-Brought-the-Sunset-to-the-Earth". The story shows themes of perseverance, and preserving our state flowers. 
     The story could be in a Native American unit to show how a one of their legends. Another way you could use it is for is for a US map unit. The Indian Paintbrush is the state of Wyoming flower.