Happy November!! November brings some of my favorite times and things to celebrate! November is our month of gratitude. Something I feel each of us needs to focus more on. It is also Native American Heritage Month! My favorite of the heritage months along with Women's History Month. I have always been fascinated with the various Native American cultures and love learning about them!! Today I am sharing a new picture book that shares a Hopi folktale. The book is Rabbit Shoots the Sun: A Hopi Folktale retold by Terrie Fields and illustrated by Gerald Dawavendewa. The book is recommended for ages 4 to 8, but older readers will enjoy the story especially if studying Hopi culture!
About the Book:
How is it that rabbits became frightened of noise? Why does the sun rise slowly? Before science explained it all, a Hopi legend revealed some reasons. In this delightful retelling of an ancient fable by award-winning author Terri Fields, Rabbit sets out to teach Sun some manners about being too hot, but Sun isn’t really interested in changing. The two engage in a battle that forever changes both the sun and the rabbit. With charming illustrations by Hopi artist Gerald Dawavendewa, young readers will be enchanted by this timeless folktale.About the Author:
Terri Fields is the author of nearly thirty books for children and young adults. Her titles have won multiple awards, including recognition from the American Library Association, the Georgia Children’s Choice Award, the Recommended Reading List for Chicago Public Schools, and the 100 Top Kid Picks in Children’s Books in Arizona. She is also an educator who has been named Arizona Teacher of the Year, ING Education Innovator for Arizona, and one of the twenty teachers on the All-USA Teacher Team of the nation’s top educators. Terri also presents interactive author workshops to schools throughout the US and abroad. Her books include Tornado Tamer, Burro’s Tortillas, and One Good Deed. She and her husband live in Phoenix, Arizona. Visit her website at www.terrifields.com.About the Illustrator:
Gerald Dawavendewa grew up in the Hopi village of Munqapi, Arizona and the Cherokee woods of Oklahoma. He has worked with the Arizona State Museum as an exhibit specialist and interned with the National Museum of American Indian, Smithsonian Institute. He is the author and illustrator of The Butterfly Dance and Codex Taawa: Exploring the Cosmos of the Hopi. Gerald’s other work includes a Hopi mural that is part of the permanent collection of the Arizona State Museum, which also accepted a design that is now the official logo for this 124-year-old institution. Through his artwork, Gerald hopes to share his culture, educate the public about the rich heritage of his native tribes, and promote a greater understanding of the native world. He is an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe and lives in Tucson, Arizona.
From Me:
In this fun tale, the animals are living in a hot desert. There hasn't been rain for a long time, and all of the animals are hot, thirsty, hungry and tired. None of them have energy to look for food. After "seeing" a mirage of water, Rabbit gets angry at the Sun. He goes to where the Sun always appears each morning and practices shooting his bow and arrow. He is going to shoot the sun to get her to stop shining. However Sun knows what Rabbit is up to and keeps fooling Rabbit. When Sun finally pities Rabbit and comes up where she had previously, Rabbit shoots Sun. The problem is now there are flames coming from the hole in Sun and chasing Rabbit. Rabbit tries to find a place to hide but the trees keep telling him they cannot hide him as they will burn. Finally a desert bloom says he can hide there. The desert plant saves Rabbit but turns yellow from the flames.
This book is the folktale to explain why rabbits are so skittish and why the desert bush turns yellow in the sun. I always love these explanation stories as they give us a look at what the minds of ancestors thought about. This story is told in a fun way, and the illustrations are beautiful and simple. I love the classic designs on the pages. The story reminds me of a time of sitting around a campfire and being told a story. Can you envision it?
I love the simple story and how it teaches about the Hopi culture. It is perfect for celebrating Native American Heritage Month but also for learning about Hopi Nation's culture when studying it in a classroom. It is also perfect for some folktale studies and some of the how things are created stories. Come discover why rabbits are not fierce hunters and are scared by noises with this fun book!
