The Village of Blue Stone
1990 "Science Books & Films" Best Children's Science Book
1990 Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies
"Because of the care with which the facts have been handled, this book for young readers could just as well be listed as a factual account of daily life through an annual cycle in Anasazi culture. Trimble proves once again that he is a superb writer with the skills to make even complex topics easy to understand." —Books of the Southwest
"The Village of Blue Stone reconstructs the life of a small Anasazi village near Chaco Canyon in about A.D. 1100. The book is especially charming because author Stephen Trimble has given his characters enough personality to keep the reader interested while not losing the more general focus on the community. This is a trustworthy piece of work—an accessible and delightful bit of reading for children." —Santa Fe Reporter
The Village of Blue Stone recreates one year in the life of an ancestral Puebloan community nine centuries ago. Beginning with the winter solstice, predicted with painstaking astronomical observation by Old Badger Claws—the Sun Watcher—we follow members of the different clans through their lives.
Carefully researched vignettes bring to life both the people and the now silent ruins of the Chaco Culture of northwestern New Mexico. An afterword dramatizes the work of modern archaeologists hoping to unlock the secrets of the ruined village and connects the stories of the prehistoric people with their inheritors and descendants, the modern Acoma, Zuni, and Hopi Pueblo Indians.
(Macmillan, 1990)
