Encounter By Jane Yolen, Illustrated by David Shannon


Jane Yolen’s Encounter, brought vividly to life by David Shannon’s illustrations, offers a powerful retelling of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Americas—but from the perspective of a young Taíno boy. Far from the triumphant narrative often told, this story reveals fear, foreboding, and loss. It is a deeply moving picture book that challenges students to think critically about history, perspective, and whose voices are heard.

In this story, a Taíno boy dreams of strangers arriving from across the sea. When Columbus and his men reach shore, the boy’s warnings to his people go unheeded. The visitors seem friendly, but the boy senses danger. Told through the lens of Indigenous experience, Yolen’s narrative complicates the myth of Columbus’s “discovery” and asks readers to reconsider the impact of colonization.

Curriculum Connections  

  • Social Studies / History: Encounter provides an essential counter-narrative to traditional Columbus Day stories. Students can analyze how Indigenous perspectives reshape our understanding of exploration, colonization, and cultural contact.

  • Language Arts: The text invites critical literary analysis. Students can study point of view, foreshadowing, and tone, examining how Yolen conveys unease and loss through the boy’s voice. Compare how narrative perspective influences the reader’s interpretation of events.

  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): This book underscores the importance of centering marginalized voices in literature and history. It provides a space to talk about cultural erasure, representation, and the power of storytelling in reclaiming silenced histories.

  • Civic Engagement: Encounter can be connected to modern debates about how we commemorate historical figures and events (such as Columbus Day vs. Indigenous Peoples’ Day). Students can consider how literature contributes to civic dialogue and social change.

Discussion Questions

  1. How does telling the story of Columbus’s arrival from a Taíno boy’s perspective change the way we understand history?

  2. Why do you think Jane Yolen chose to write this as a picture book rather than a traditional historical text?

  3. How do the illustrations contribute to the tone and message of the story?

  4. What connections can you draw between Encounter and current conversations about whose voices are represented in history?

  5. How can stories like this influence how we think about holidays, monuments, and public memory?

Encounter is not just a picture book. It is a vital text for older students to engage with questions of history, voice, and representation. By re-centering the story on an Indigenous child, Jane Yolen and David Shannon challenge readers to confront uncomfortable truths about the past. In middle and high school classrooms, this book becomes a catalyst for inquiry, discussion, and critical thinking about the legacy of colonization and the stories we choose to tell.

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