Corn Flower, an eleven-year-old Native American girl, is a member of the Kansa tribe living along the Cottonwood River in the 1820s. When winter arrives on the Great Plains, Corn Flower and her best friend Night Sparrow build a sled to challenge their brothers in a hillside race. Because of the icy temperatures, many activities such as bead making, storytelling, and completing the winter count for the yearly history of their tribe remain in their family lodge. As the ice pack hardens, the children participate in the snow snake as they throw a long rod or stick down a narrow channel in the snow. When a stray coyote attacks Corn Flower and her goat along the river, she is saved by her horse Brownie. Along with her father and brothers, Corn Flower travels to the trading post. On her return home, Corn Flower is startled to find that the tribal storyteller Walks at Night has fallen in the snow. Corn Flower nurses Walks at Night back to health by using her wild crafting skills with herbs and roots for healing. At the shell ceremony Corn Flower and Night Sparrow each receive a new shell on their necklace for surviving their twelfth winter season on the Great Plains. Includes Readers Guide.

In this second book in the series based on the four seasons, Corn Flower, an eleven-year-old Native American girl and a member of the Kansa tribe living along the Cottonwood River in the 1820s, is proud that her father White Plume has been selected as a tribal chief. With the guidance of two older tribal women, she also takes great pride in learning the skill of wild crafting to find herbs, roots, and leaves to use as medicines. After the harvest celebration of the corn crop, the members of the tribe head out to hunt for the great, shaggy bison. With the success of the hunt, much meat is prepared by all members of the tribe for the cold, winter months. One day while tending her herd of goats, Corn Flower and her best friend Night Sparrow find a stray horse wearing a saddle alone on the prairie. To discover the owner, Corn Flower and Night Sparrow travel to the trading post with their fathers White Plume and Red Branch. After leaving the trading post, Corn Flower nearly drowns while trying to return the lost horse at the nearby soldier fort. Saved by her father, she listens to White Plume’s story of how he came to know Kicking Swan and married her. The whole tribe rejoices with a naming celebration for a little girl of the tribe and for the marriage of Corn Flower’s brother Wanji to the maiden Running Dove. The story ends with the first heavy snowfall and a fun time in the winter whiteness with her brothers Red Cloud and Two Bears. Includes Readers Guide.