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4.0 out of 5 stars
A Northern Arizona Historian just South of The Canyon, Dec 16 2002
By A Customer
I too read this book when I was about 9 and really enjoyed it. Then I discovered, by reading an article in Arizona Highways magazine, that a movie had been made of "Brighty". I saw the movie, and read the book to my daughter when she was 9.(First, let's remember Brighty was a burro, not a donkey or a mule.There is a difference--) And yes, the burros were hard on the environment, but thanks to Cleveland Amory, a lot of them were airlifted out of the GC to be adopted--not shot on sight as the National Park Service was doing to remove them. Teddy Roosevelt was a great president and instrumental in protecting our wild spaces, but he and Uncle Jimmy Owens had a skewed view of mountain lions. Because of the "sportkilling" of these animals--dozens of them, by Jim and Teddy, along with others-- the mule deer population of the North Rim of the Canyon exploded, and many deer starved to death lacking sufficient forage to go around. I know, I know, it was a different time. However, if you are going to address the environmental impact of burros, you better mention the environmental impact of the killing of masses of mountain lions for trophy and sport, Teddy Roosevelt included. It does disturb me that the book portrayed the lion as a horrible, scary and aggressive animal, when in reality (like most predators) they are shy and retiring, unless you corner them or threaten their young. If teachers continue to read this book to their classes (and they should) I hope they allow for student discussion about how ideas on the environment and wild animals have changed since the book was written, as well as the historical time it was placed in. Reality checks are incredibly important for true understanding.
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