
Author: Ann Clark and Van Tsihnahjinnie
Plot Summary: Everyone calls My-Little-Boy, a young Navajo boy, by a different name. My-Little-Boy resists waking up, but finally does after several family members ask him to wake up. He crawls out from under his blanket but he does not hurry. The family is working furiously to prepare for the big day of dipping sheep. Grandfather-Prairie-dog tells My-Little-Boy that the Navajo people said that there was once a man who was so lazy, he turned into a prairie dog so he would not have to work so much. My-Little-Boy decides it would be best to hurry, hurry, hurry to the sheep dip. He hurries there and quickly starts to dip the sheep, helping many other animals along and telling them all to hurry. My-Little-Boy’s family is surprised. My-Little-Boy’s mother smiles at him and says, “My-Little-Boy, you have learned to hurry.” My-Little-Boy responds, “I don’t want to be a prairie dog!”
Posted In: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy
Plot Summary: Everyone calls My-Little-Boy, a young Navajo boy, by a different name. My-Little-Boy resists waking up, but finally does after several family members ask him to wake up. He crawls out from under his blanket but he does not hurry. The family is working furiously to prepare for the big day of dipping sheep. Grandfather-Prairie-dog tells My-Little-Boy that the Navajo people said that there was once a man who was so lazy, he turned into a prairie dog so he would not have to work so much. My-Little-Boy decides it would be best to hurry, hurry, hurry to the sheep dip. He hurries there and quickly starts to dip the sheep, helping many other animals along and telling them all to hurry. My-Little-Boy’s family is surprised. My-Little-Boy’s mother smiles at him and says, “My-Little-Boy, you have learned to hurry.” My-Little-Boy responds, “I don’t want to be a prairie dog!”
Posted In: Ethics, Social and Political Philosophy

Discussion Questions
- Is there only one way to do things?
- If you manage to accomplish the same tasks but do it differently than people expect, is that doing the tasks wrong?
- What is the value of hurrying?
- Can being reprimanded and judged be positive?
- Is there value in assuming what someone is capable of?
- Can people thinking we can do less than we can affect what we can do and how we see ourselves?
- What is the role of family?
- Is it important to “fit in” with family?
- Is what family thinks of you important?
- Should you change yourself if your family doesn’t approve of who you are?
Contributed by Di’Anna Duran

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