Customer Reviews

Brighty: Of the Grand Canyon

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a story of the Grand Canyon during the early 1900s when it was the home of trappers, hunters, miners, and mountain men. The story is told through the eyes of a wild burro who lived the live of freedom yet sometimes lived alongside the men of the Canyon. This is based on a true story of real burro who even met Theodore Roosevelt. This is a wonderful well-written story with compelling characters. There is a continuing plot line involving a thief and murderer but much of the book contains episodic chapters of Brighty's adventures. The first half of the book is a slow, gentle read and I did find it hard to settle down with this book but the pace picks up at the mid-point and overall a good read. Recommended, especially if you are interested in this area.

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.

this was a very good book. i liked it a lot. marguerite henry's books are very interesting to read. i like them a lot. i would reccomend this book to people who like to read.

This great book I read when I was 6,7,8,& 9, but I still remember how great it was. This book was written by a great author, Marguerite Henry. She always wrote Realistic Fiction about horses. Even if you're not a horse lover, you would love these. In Brighty of the Grand Canyon, a donkey named Brighty lives with an old man that lives in the Grand Canyon. One night a "bad guy" comes and meets the two friends. The old man thinks he is really friendly, so he lets him stay the night. Before they went to bed, the old man tells the other too much information and that night, the other man kills him. Brighty knew when he first laid eyes on him, he could tell he was up to no good. As the story goes on, the man runs away and Brighty tries to get him in jail. Brighty goes through many tough challenges and exciting times. Brighty fights with other animals, plays with children, gets sick, and gets trapped with the man and a young boy. I'm not going to give away the end, but not very many people have even heard of Marguerite Henry, so if you think you will enjoy this book from my review, please do so. I admired Marguerite Henry for how well she wrote her stories and how her imagination worked. Sadly, she died in 1998. Once again, I hope you will enjoy the book if you decide to read it.

At first i thought it would be good becouse my teacher suggested it. The book is about a donkey who lives in the Grand Canyon. His human friend is murdered and he has t face life without him. My favorite part is when Brighty fights a mountain lion. I liked the ending. it was descriptive and it turned out good.

I'm an early childhood educator and have a particular interest in children's literature. While wandering through an abandoned parochial school library, Brighty of the Grand Canyon caught my eye. I brought it home and read it cover to cover. Brighty is a sweet, loving, and endearing character. Kids as well as adults will get caught up in Brighty's world. I'm sad to find out that burros were such a destructive force in the Grand Canyon. But after reading the book, I am hoping to take a vacation out to the Grand Canyon to see Brighty's statue. Check out the Grand Canyon's website for more information on Brighty.

Marquerite Henry became one of my favorite childhood authors during my horse-crazy phase, and i still enjoy rereading her books as an adult. I first *heard* this book when my teacher read it to my two brothers and me for an hour every day, and although sometimes the injustice to the little burro is infuriating, we enjoyed the story. We were aged 6, 8, and 10 at the time, and we talked about the "good guys" and the "bad guy" and my teacher used the historical fiction as a tangent to our lessons. The best part is how a reader sees the story through Brighty's eyes without silly or condescending personification. Thirteen years later i still remember and reread this!

If you want more info about the book, I'll give it to you. Here it is: (From the back of the book) Long ago, a lone little burro roamed the high cliffs of the Grand Canyon and touched the hearts of all who knew him:a grizzled old miner, a big-game hunter, even President Teddy Roosevelt. Named Brighty by the prospecter who befriended him, he remained a free spirit at heatr. But when a ruthless claim jumper murdered the prospector, loyal Brighty risked everything to bring the killer to justice.

I HIGHLY reccomend you read this book. It's worth the time AND the money when you begin to read it! Happy Reading!

This is based on a true story about the adventures of a special donkey who lives in the Grand Canyon during the time of the building of the first bridge. The story has very real-life qualites. The geographical description of Grand Canyon and involvement with President Theodore Roosevelt are a pleasant addition! This book makes a good read aloud for intermediates and leaves you with an endearing feeling for the characters. I recommend this for intermediate ages. It may be too graphic for young children. Happy reading!

My father and grand parents started the Wylie Way camp at the North Rim in 1916. The Summer of 1918 was when Brighty became their water carrier and my father and Brighty made several trips a day to a water source 200ft. below the rim. The camp was about 100yds North West from the current Grand Canyon Lodge and held up to 100 people per night at it's capacity. My Grandmother did all of the accounting and was basically in charge of the people and the kitchen, including the ordering of food, cooking and purchases from Z.C.M.I. It was a pioneering effort, to say the least. Dad's encounters with Brighty have become synonymous with early life at the North Rim. Grandfather wrote an article on Brighty for Sunset Magazine and Marguerite Henry based her book on this article. The book is fiction but has some true things such as Brighty crossing the Bridge first and being independant. I'm not sure if Brighty actually was used by Roosevelt but another Burro was used and his name was Ted. Dad used Ted his first summer at the camp. Ted was stubborn so the following summer Brighty was given them by Uncle Jim Owen who had used Brighty off and on in his cougar hunting adventures. Owen was a resident expert who worked for the government culling the cougar population and raising cattle and buffalo. Thanks. M. Krueger