Long ago the traditional way for Yakima Indian children to learn was by listening for long hours to the grandparents or other story tellers. In keeping with this auditory tradition, this book teaches pre-reading skills through use of sequenced pictures and stories that children will retell after learning. It helps the teacher assist Indian children to cope with the change from auditory ways of learning to today's emphasis on visual learning. Although the book's ten tales are new, they use the traditional Yakima approach of using stories with animal characters to pass on information. One story tells of two large beavers fighting so mightily they dig the Yakima river bed. Another story tells of how Jackrabbit trapped the sun and wound up with the scorched brown patch on his back that he carries today. The illustrations of the book may be dittoed for each child to have his own copy or used on a flannel board. They provide opportunities for children to talk, recall, and sequence events. Geographical locations on the Yakima Reservation as well as a few Yakima language words are used in each story for cultural reinforcement. Other early childhood programs using the book might substitute names and terms relevant to their own localities. (Author/DS)