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* National Parenting Award 수상도서

밤하늘의 별자리가 생기게 된 나바호 인디언의 전설을 아름다운 그림책으로 재구성했습니다. 이 세상의 첫날에, 첫번째 여인은 사람들이 올바르게 살아가기 위한 법칙을 적어서 후손들에게 남겨주려고 합니다. 사막이나 바다에 적으면 바람이나 풍랑이 불면 곧 사라지기 때문에 자신의 보석들을 이용해서 밤하늘에 별자리를 만들면서 적으려고 했지요. 지나가던 코요테가 여인을 도와 주어서 함께 일을 했습니다만, 수많은 보석들을 하나하나 밤하늘에 옮기는 일은 매우 지루하고 힘들었습니다. 견디다 못한 코요테는 담요에 가득 있던 보석들을 한꺼번에 하늘에 뿌려 버리고, 그 이후로 인간들의 세상이 반드시 올바르게 법칙대로 돌아가지는 않게 되었다고 합니다...



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Edition : Paperback: 32 pages
ISBN-10: 0395779383
ISBN-13: 9780395779385
책 크기: 25.3cm x 19.8cm






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Book Description
This retelling of a Navajo folktale explains how First Woman tried to write the laws of the land using stars in the sky, only to be thwarted by the trickster Coyote.


Booklist *Starred Review*
“Oughton’s fine debut provides Desimini with the best vehicle she’s had for her spare powerful style: she sets the heroic figures of the early world against deep blues and greens, the shadowed earth glowing ruby against a starry sky.”


Kirkus Reviews with Pointers
"Oughton's fine debut provides Desimini with the best vehicle she's had for her spare, powerful style . . . A dramatically handsome setting for an especially noble Native American tale."


Publishers Weekly
According to the Navajos, the jumble of stars in the night sky reflects the disorders and confusion of life itself. In this lyrical retelling Oughton--in her first children's book--paints a picture of calm deliberation as, at the beginning of the world, First Woman determines to write the laws in the sky for all to see. So she positions her jewelry ``crafting her careful mosaic on the blackberry cloth of night.'' Coyote offers to help with this important task but becomes impatient and sends a cascade of stars hurtling into the night, creating chaos for all time. Oughton's text echoes First Woman's self-confidence and is sprinkled throughout with deft turns of phrase. Desimini's somber yet luminous art evokes nature's solemn beauty as it captures the silent mystery of the ``rim of night.'' Her solid, slightly static figures firmly place this fantasy-like world of the desert in reality.


Children's Literature
In this retelling of a Navajo legend, First Woman wants to write the laws to help mankind. She patiently takes her jewels (the stars) and carefully places them in the sky. Coyote arrives and asks if he can help. Impatient with a task that could take forever, he takes First Woman's blanket and tosses the stars into the sky. First Woman is aghast, and mankind never knows the reason why confusion is always present.


School Library Journal
At the end of the first day, First Woman tries to convince First Man that ``The people need to know the laws.'' Impatiently, he tells her to write them in the sky. She takes a blanket full of her jewels (stars) and with infinite patience begins ``designing her pattern so all could read it.'' Coyote asks to help, but when he sees the magnitude of the task he grumbles, then flings the remaining stars into the night sky, forever obscuring the pattern. As the second day dawns, the people go about their lives, ``. . . never knowing the reason for the confusion that would always dwell among them.'' This Navajo tale acknowledges the common human feeling that there IS a message in the stars--the laws of a clear and orderly universe--if it could be read. It absolves humans of guilt (Coyote did it) and provides a First Woman who is a strong, positive, and beneficent figure. The concise and graceful text is matched with illustrations in a primitive but dramatic vein, marked by simplified shapes, saturated matte colors, and desert-stark composition. The claret-sandstone earth and deep lapis sky, meeting at a curved horizon, dominate most pages; the white of eyes and starlight punctuate the design. This handsome book might well fit into a myth or Native American collection, but it can stand on its own timely and attractive merits as well.