Rain, now a 12-year-old, is visited once again by the eagle, but this time in a dream. As Rain sleeps, Sky Heart, the eagle, sings a song to him that ends with the refrain, 'a boy must help us.' In the song, Sky Heart provides clues about strange vanishings on the Medicine Cave Indian Reservation. Thistle, the rabbit, has suspicions that Coyote is behind the disappearance of fossils from an ancient turtle, the sudden evaporation of water from the reservation's rivers, and the ominous absence of a 7th grader from Thunder Rock Middle School. Searching for the meaning of the dream, Rain seeks the help of Boomer (Thunder Cloud), Simon, and Hummingbird. Unknowingly, the four friends are drawn into the coyote's game and the criminal activities of a dangerous fossil poaching ring. Deep within the gullies of Shell Ridge, an escarpment that borders the bed of an ancient sea, Rain follows Coyote to a mysterious cave where he discovers the origins of the reservation's water and confronts the notorious fossil thief, Vernon Smeed -- risking everything to save one that he loves. With his pranks and deceptions, Coyote puts Rain through many tests. The trickster teaches the boy lessons that will last a lifetime, but he, too, learns an important truth -- Sky Heart has chosen well. The great bird has entrusted his messages about health and the wisdom of Native knowledge to a remarkable boy whose strength is founded in the steadfastness of friends and love of family.

Hummingbird tries new methods to grow huge fruits and vegetables and faces a bully with other plans for the garden, while Coyote plays tricks to teach her about the history and wisdom of traditional foods.

At night coyotes come quietly to the garden wall, bringing with them their desert world of sand, sagebrush, lizards, and rocks.

Turtle Dream is a collection of stories for readers of all ages. Author Gerald Hausman (Meditations with the Navajo; Sitting on the Blue-Eyed Bear; Stargazer) experienced these stories with his Native American friends in the Southwest. They are a true reflection of native customs, but more importantly, they reveal that startling moment when life causes us to surrender our conscious power, to discover the nature of who we really are. A footrace in Hopi country and Jemez Pueblo... behind the waterfall at Havasu in the Grand Canyon... a turquoise horse in the heart of Navajo land... riding on Turtle's back deep in a dream... here are stories that delight and amaze, teach and share the old ways of the first people of America.

Winter is coming and Little Turtle must get ready, but he just does not know how. Great-great-great Grandma Turtle only adds to Little Turtle's confusion when she tells her, "Go gather your dreams." This is a charming easy-reader chapter book. The large print text and the beautiful illustrations of the other animals that Turtle meets add visual pleasure to the story. Children will love being able to read about Turtle's adventures and will enjoy the self-confidence that comes from being able to "read it myself."

Mr Turtle can't make his way home. Then he meets Mr Coyote, but Mr Coyote causes even more trouble. What will Mr Turtle do?

Coyote thinks he is clever, but he is always in trouble because other animals trick him so easily. Suggested level: junior, primary.