The Great Ball Game of the Birds and Animals is a Cherokee legend about lacrosse game between the animals and birds retold. Also explains the origin of flying squirrel and bat. When the Animals of the southeastern woodlands challenge the Birds to a game of stickball, two of the smallest Animals are not allowed to play. The Bear, the Deer, and the other big animals think they are too small to compete. In this Cherokee story the little animals find a way to play in the Great Ball Game. This picture book story is about courage in the face of adversity, the thrill of the game, and the joy of victory. Teaching the virtues of creativity and determination, it takes us to a time when the animals talked and wonderful things happened in our world.