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Fiction Friday Night: Brighty of the Grand Canyon

I just realized (just counted, actually) that I’ve included fifteen read-alouds on my reading list this year.  There are actually quite a few others I read to Ethan that I didn’t count because of their failure to meet my fairly low standards of length/difficulty.

The latest one that counted was Brighty of the Grand Canyon, a 1953 book by Marguerite Henry, detailing the adventures/legend of a burro named Brighty (after Bright Angel Creek).

(Marguerite Henry wrote several books about a horse called Misty.  You may be familiar with those titles.  I think I was aware of them.)

The book was a gift from my mom, who visited the Grand Canyon just this  year.  As a description of the Canyon in its pre-National Park days, the book succeeds rather well.  As an adventure, it’s a bit disjointed.

The book starts by introducing Brighty and Old Timer, an old prospector.  Before long, Old Timer and Brighty meet a shady stranger who is unambiguously The Bad Guy.  But Old Timer is too trusting and shares the secret of a terrific stake he’s just made (a rich copper deposit). 

Then Old Timer is murdered, and there’s really no mystery about whodunnit, and Brighty is left to fend for himself.  Which, of course, he does rather well, having never really depended on Old Timer for anything but some treats and a few back scratchings.

Soon thereafter we’re also introduced to Uncle Jimmy, a renowned mountain lion hunter, and also to the sheriff of the county, both of whom pledge to bring the killer to justice.

And then we don’t hear anything about the search for the murderer for about a hundred pages.  Instead, the narrative focuses on Brighty’s activities in the years that follow the murder.  We learn what Brighty does in the summer and what he does in the winter.  We learn that he’s a tough customer, when he manages to fight off and kill a mountain lion.  And we learn what he thought of the Other Side of the Canyon after a bridge was built across the Colorado River (Teddy Roosevelt makes a few appearances during this part).

Eventually the Bad Guy resurfaces, and there’s a bit of trouble and some scuffles and some difficulties, none of which I’ll divulge. 

I won’t say Ethan and I didn’t enjoy it.  It’s somewhat difficult to connect with a non-human character who doesn’t talk, and I totally blame animated movies for that!  (BTW, as an aside, why was The Incredible Journey remade with talking animals?  The old version had to be better, though I’ll admit I didn’t see the new one.)

But the fact that Brighty was a real character made it interesting, and as I mentioned, the history is fascinating.  And the descriptions of the Canyon and its surrounds made me want to see it again.  And maybe go on one of those trail hikes with donkeys.

Next up…I’m not certain, because two holds just came through at the Library, and the final Crichton book was on the Best-Sellers rack and I picked it up.  We’ll see if I can focus on just one of them.