This book is simply a treasure. The story is about a boy and his bear and their blankie, who have an adventure on a dark, stormy night when they help their forest friends build a storm shelter. The rhyming text is very smooth and soothing...it actually slows down my 16-month old and 4 year old! And the illustrations are without a doubt BEAUTIFUL!! This book is requested every night and I'm more than glad to narrate!

The illustrations and storyline are captivating. My children ages 2 & 3 can't get enough of this one. I don't even mind reading this over and over again! We own a large childrens library and this is at the top of our "favorites list".

When I was a little boy, my big sister gave me an exquisitely illustrated book about a mother bunny who was called upon to deliver a special Easter gift to a dying child living in a remote mountain cabin.

I received the book about 50 years ago, and to this day I vividly recall the highly detailed illustrations and, because of them, I recall the gist of the book as well. I loved that book. And I found myself reading it once in a while until I was nearing my teens. It was just a beautiful book with a beautiful message about courage, altruism, and the responsibility we humans need to have for one another.

I kept the book, and passed it on to my little daughter. She, in turn, has read it repeatedly to my grandchildren.

Barbara Upton has the artistic genius needed to make a book into an heirloom. I don't know that Klickitat will rise to that level, but it might, because the book is very attractive and highly readable. If it fails to become a family treasure, it would be only because the language in the poem would not appeal to children beyond maybe 7 or so (my youngest grandchildren are 8, and they object to the word "blankie" in the poem, for example.) I think a book earns a special place in a person's heart when the book's message says something to "kids" of all ages, in language that does not turn off older children.

I hope a quality book publisher hires Upton to illustrate a real book, with a story line that will appeal both to tykes who can't yet read, and to kids who learned to read years ago, yet pick up the book from time to time simply because its message is still relevant, the language is not obviously geared to toddlers, and the illustrations are appealing unto themselves. All these elements make a mere book into a family treasure.

As I said, Upton has the gift to produce works of art that children will want to carry into their adult lives. I think Klickitat will pass down for a few generations. And I think competent book publishers will recognize Upton's genius for beautiful art, and turn her loose on a big project like my treasured Easter story. Let's hope so, anyway.

If they do, I'll be one of the first in line to buy it.

Glenn Troester, Editor & Publisher Meeker Herald & Rangely Times Meeker Colorado

I write from an interesting position; I used to live in Mrs. Neils' former abode, so I know the country and its people. In fact, I know some of the people she mentions in the book (she misspelled their names). The area's definitely gone downhill since the Indians were pretty well driven out.

The history is reasonably well done. It's unfortunate she couldn't include more of the tribe's legends and cosmology; it's unclear whether she didn't consider it important or (just as likely) there was no one left who remembered most of it. Which points up a quality that overrides the book's flaws: Mrs. Neils is probably the only person who had the ability, contacts and knowledge to write this history. Had she not done so, it would not have been done.

The reader is cautioned that some of the terminology used is a little retro. (It really isn't fashionable to refer to Indians as 'bucks' and 'squaws' these days, though I think for the most part Mrs. Neils tries hard not to be ethnocentric.) Some will find this an adjustment. There are spelling errors. A moderate amount of information, (including a lot of the pictures) also, is recycled from Mrs. Neils' earlier _So This is Klickitat_, which was more about the whites of the area than the Indians.

Recommended for those interested in the history of southern Washington, or of Native peoples' unsensationalized early experiences with whites.