THE LEGEND OF SCARFACE
A Blackfeet Indian Tale
by Robert D. San Souci
Illustrated by Daniel San Souci
Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1978
Full color illustrations
0-385-13247-6 (hc, 1978)
0-440-84310-3 (pbk, 1991)

A New York Times Best Illustrated Book

According to legend, a young man named Scarface, for the birthmark on his cheek, once fell in love with Singing Rain, the daughter of his chief. Although he was not handsome, the girl loved him for his kindness and his generosity. Still, she was unable to marry him. She had promised Father Sun that she would never wed.

Hearing this, Scarface decided he would ask the Sun to release his beloved from her vow. But to do this he first had to find his way to the Lodge of the Sun in the land beyond the Great Waters.

Robert and Daniel San Souci have preserved both the beauty and the simple dignity of this Blackfeet Indian story, while creating a rich and timeless picture book.

"The telling here...is strong and will be accessible to young children and to reluctant readers.," -- School Library Journal

"The twelve large full-color paintings have a dramatic strength, realistically interpreting the action, the Indian characters, and the animals." -- A Horn Book Magazine Honor List Book

“A thoroughly successful story for 6-12-year-olds. It may also lead to some theater and imaginative play.” -- Winston-Salem Journal

"Fine paintings illustrate this stroy of goodness rewarded . . . . They have a precise elegance that's striking." -- Booklist

"Lovely illustrations add a great deal to this short story of a young man's quest." -- Montery Peninsula Unified School District Newsletter

"Well illustrated." -- Books-Across-the-Sea

"The entire story is told in prose that sings and in paintings . . . .that convey the beauty of the wilds in winter and summer and show the strong and lovable traits of the characters. -- America

"[an] Indian love story set off by exquisite watercolors." -- Portland Oregonian

"A visiual triumph . . . . the story and the pictures are an elequent transimssin of the tale." The Berkeley (CA) Monthly

"THE LEGEND OF SCARFACE has a strong, satisfying story, expressed in language that flows with the cadences of an oral myth and illustrations that sensitively capture the Indians' respect for nature." -- Contra Costa (CA) Times