Sky Dogs

In this lyrical tale drawn from Blackfoot legend, an old man recounts the origin of his name, He-who-loves-horses. He describes the coming of horses, ``Sky Dogs,'' from across the plains, and the wonder and awe he and his people felt when they first saw these ``big . . .elk, with tails of straw.'' He-who-loves-horses, then a lonely boy, learns to care for and ride the beautiful animals, and his knowledge and abilities help him earn a place on the council of warriors--and a sense of self-worth. His story is made all the more poignant by the elderly narrator's revelation that ``now I sit in the tipi, and food is brought to me, and I do not ride the wind.'' Moser's sun-and-earth-toned watercolors, of the plains and of the main character as both boy and man, are lovely and haunting. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)