Call It Courage (published as
The Boy Who Was Afraid in the United Kingdom) is a book in English written and illustrated by
Armstrong SperryArmstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and indigenous American cultures...
that won the
Newbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
for excellence in American
children's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres. Books specifically for children existed by the 17th century...
in 1941.
Call It Courage is a
coming of ageComing of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
story set in the
Pacific IslandsThe Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Those islands lying south of the tropic of Cancer are traditionally grouped into three divisions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.-Oceania:...
. It chronicles the journey of Mafatu, the son of the chief of
Hikueru IslandHikueru, Tiveru, or Te Kārena, is one of the Central Tuamotu atolls. The closest land to Hikueru is Tekokota Atoll, located 22 Km to the north....
. Mafatu is afraid of the sea due to witnessing his mother drown as a young child, which makes him a shame to his father, and a coward among his tribe.
Call It Courage (published as
The Boy Who Was Afraid in the United Kingdom) is a book in English written and illustrated by
Armstrong SperryArmstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and indigenous American cultures...
that won the
Newbery MedalThe John Newbery Medal is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association . The award is given to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children. The award has been given since 1922. ...
for excellence in American
children's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve and is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes exclude young-adult fiction, comic books, or other genres. Books specifically for children existed by the 17th century...
in 1941.
Plot summary
Call It Courage is a
coming of ageComing of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
story set in the
Pacific IslandsThe Pacific Islands comprise 20,000 to 30,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean. Those islands lying south of the tropic of Cancer are traditionally grouped into three divisions: Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia.-Oceania:...
. It chronicles the journey of Mafatu, the son of the chief of
Hikueru IslandHikueru, Tiveru, or Te Kārena, is one of the Central Tuamotu atolls. The closest land to Hikueru is Tekokota Atoll, located 22 Km to the north....
. Mafatu is afraid of the sea due to witnessing his mother drown as a young child, which makes him a shame to his father, and a coward among his tribe. One night Mafatu takes a
dugout canoeA canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over .In its human-powered form, the canoe is propelled by the use of...
and sets sail into the ocean without knowing where he will end up. He is caught in a storm and the canoe is lost. He lands on a deserted island and learns to hunt and fish for himself, along with his companion Uri, a yellow dog, and
KiviKivi is a surname, and may refer to:* Aleksis Kivi , Finnish author* Antero Kivi , discus thrower* Maarja Kivi , Estonian musician-See also:* Kivi, Ardabil, a town in Iran* Kivi Sotamaa , Finnish architect...
, an albatross.
Soon Mafatu finds a sacrificial altar built by cannibals from a neighboring island. Mafatu realizes his days on the island are numbered and he begins designing his escape by making a canoe. He gathers things he will need to survive a trip across the ocean. He finds a spear point on the terrible altar and uses it to hunt.
After a number of encounters with natural foes, including a shark, a wild boar and an octopus, all of which he successfully kills, he realizes he is gaining courage and learning to deal with the things that have frightened him. The cannibals return and he makes a daring escape from them, returning home at last to his village. He has become transformed by the experience into an imposing figure. His father does not recognize him at first, then proudly accepts him on his return.
Characters
- Mafatu: He is 15 and his name means ‘Stout Heart’. He is the son of the Great Chief of Hikueru
Hikueru, Tiveru, or Te Kārena, is one of the Central Tuamotu atolls. The closest land to Hikueru is Tekokota Atoll, located 22 Km to the north....
, a race of Polynesians who worship courage. Despite his name, Mafatu had a great fear of the ocean. As a child he was washed out to sea during a hurricane and his mother was taken by the sea. He was not allowed to go with the fishermen because they thought he brought bad luck. He was often teased and called a coward. When he could no longer bear their taunts he decided to leave the island and set off for the sea alone to face his fear and prove to everyone that he was brave. His only companions were KiviKivi is a surname, and may refer to:* Aleksis Kivi , Finnish author* Antero Kivi , discus thrower* Maarja Kivi , Estonian musician-See also:* Kivi, Ardabil, a town in Iran* Kivi Sotamaa , Finnish architect...
, an albatrossAlbatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds allied to the procellariids, storm-petrels and diving-petrels in the order Procellariiformes . They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Pacific...
, and Uri, a yellow dog. At the end of his journey he finally lives up to his name 'Stout Heart’.
- Kivi: an albatross and Mafatu's travelling companion.
- Uri: a dog and also Mafatu's travelling companion.
Comment from the author
"I had been afraid that perhaps in
Call It Courage, the concept of spiritual
courageCourage, also known as bravery, will, intrepidity, and loyalty, is the ability to confront fear, pain, risk/danger, uncertainty, or intimidation...
might be too adult for children, but the reception of this book has reaffirmed a belief I have long held: that children have imagination enough to grasp any idea, and respond to it, if it is put to them honestly and without a patronizing pat on the head."
Publications
The book was originally published in 1940 and has had numerous printings since then, and has been translated into many languages, including:
- Spanish
Spanish or Castilian is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that originated in northern Spain and gradually spread in the Kingdom of Castile, evolving into the principal language of government and trade in the Iberian peninsula...
- Estos es coraje
- French
French is a Romance language globally spoken by about 65 million people as a first language , by 50 million as a second language, and by about another 200 million people as an acquired foreign language, with significant speakers in 57 countries. Most native speakers of the language live in France,...
- Le Garcon qui avait peur
- German
German is a West Germanic language, thus related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. It is one of the world's major languages and the most widely spoken first language in the European Union. Around the world, German is spoken by approximately 105 million native speakers and also by...
- Mafatu heißt "Starkes Herz"
- Dutch
Dutch is a West Germanic language spoken by over 22 million people as a native language, and over 5 million people as a second language.
"1% of the EU population claims to speak Dutch well enough in order to have a conversation." Outside the European Union the number of second language...
- Mafatu: een jongen die moed had
- Finnish
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland and by ethnic Finns outside of Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken...
- Swedish
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along the coast and on the Åland islands. It is to a considerable extent mutually intelligible with Norwegian and to a lesser extent with Danish...
- Kalla det mod
- Norwegian
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is an official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants ...
- Persian
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and to some extent in Iraq and Bahrain, and has a status of official language in the first three countries under different names...
- Mandarin Chinese - Dahai de haizi
- Japanese
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family. There are a number of proposed relationships with other languages, but none have gained general acceptance...
- Samoan
The Sāmoan or Samoan language is the traditional language of Samoa and American Samoa and is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. It is a member of the Austronesian family, and more specifically the Samoic branch of the Polynesian subphylum.There are...
- Alaga ia, o le lototele!, translated by Fanaafi Ma`ia`i Larkin, 1965.
- Hindi
Standard Hindi, also known as High Hindi, Nagari Hindi or Literary Hindi is a standardised register of Hindi. It is one of the 22 languages with official status in India, and is used, along with English, for administration of the central government.Standard Hindi is a sanskritised register derived...
- Turkish
Turkish is spoken as a first language by over 63 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Cyprus, with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania and other...
- Indonesian
Indonesian is the official national language of Indonesia. It is based on a version of Classical Malay of the Riau-Johor Sultanate. It was first declared the official language with the declaration of Indonesian independence in 1945, following the 1928 unifying-language declaration in the...
- Arabic
- Hebrew
- Urdu
Urdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...
- Braille
The Braille system is a method that is widely used by blind people to read and write. Braille was devised in 1821 by Louis Braille, a blind Frenchman. Each Braille character or cell is made up of six dot positions, arranged in a rectangle containing two columns of three dots each...
- Portuguese
Portuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
- Mafatu o menino destemido
Other Media
Call it Courage was filmed for television with a
teleplayA teleplay is a play written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a TV script from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films....
by Benjamin Masselink and a narration by
Don HoDon Ho, born Donald Tai Loy Ho , was a Hawaiian and traditional pop musician, singer and entertainer.-Life and career:...
, and appeared on The Wonderful World of Disney for the first time in 1 April 1973 (Season 19, Episode 20).