Publisher's Synopsis
Fantasy, folklore, and magic fill the air as a young girl's grandmother relates a legend of Where Hummingbirds Come From. Grandmother explains the magic waters and the beauty of this tiny bird. Where Hummingbirds Come From may well become an all-time children's classic and a perfect book for the young reader. As well as a wonderful study guide for English as a second language students. According to UNESCO Endangered Languages it is estimated that, if nothing is done, half of 6,000 plus languages spoken today will disappear by the end of this century. With the disappearance of unwritten and undocumented languages, humanity would lose not only a cultural wealth but also important ancestral knowledge embedded, in particular, in indigenous languages. Navajo has more speakers than any other Native American language north of the U.S. - Mexico border. There are between 120,000 and 171,000 speakers. The decline of children learning the language renders Navajo an endangered language. In 1981, about 85% of the Navajo child population spoke Navajo as their first language. A more recent survey shows that has fallen to 25%. The Navajo Code Talkers, a small band of warriors who created an unbreakable code from the ancient language of their people, played a pivotal role in saving countless lives and hastening the end of WWII. At a time when America's best cryptographers were falling short, these modest sheepherders and farmers were able to fashion the most ingenious and successful code in military history. It is the only unbroken code in modern military history. Widely acknowledged to be instrumental in the success of every major engagement of the Pacific from Guadalcanal to Okinawa, this brilliant code allowed embattle regiments of Marines to communicate quickly, concisely, and above all, securely. Creations by Crouch is honored to have Elliot K. Bryant as our Navajo translator. Elliot is the son of Elsie T. Bryant from Cottonwood, Arizona, and the late, Harry Lee Bryant from Shonto, Arizona. Learning to communicate and write in English was difficult and often embarrassing while growing up. He was finally able to speak conversational English in eighth grade when he enrolled at Navajo Pine High School. His English improved in speech and in writing when he completed high school and worked in a variety of occupations on the Navajo reservation and in various communities. Elliot earned a bachelor's and master's degrees in education and has briefly taught the core subjects in the classrooms. He plans to continue teach and mentor younger generation about the values of life. Thank you Elliot for helping us continue to expand and pursue our mission to enliven children's literacy with passion and cross cultural mutual respect and to affirm, in the spirit of multinational brotherhood, the shared experience of our humanity.
