I actually did end up liking Gerald McDermott's Caldecott Medal winning Arrow to the Sun quite a bit more than I had originally expected to (as it is indeed an evocative tale, and the illustrations, although not really all that much to my aesthetic tastes in and of themselves, are really and truly visually stunning and spectacular, working exceedingly well with the author's narrative, with McDermott's text). The stain of illegitimacy is European, not Puebloan.įor more background on the book, visit my site, American Indians in Children's Literature. Children in Pueblo communities are born into large extended families. The concept of illegitimacy does not exist. However, the conflict is one that does not reflect Pueblo family structure and values. Three, the protagonist is mocked and chased away by other boys in the pueblo who say to him “Where is your father?” and “You have no father.” That conflict is the impetus for the boy’s journey to the sun. However, in McDermott’s kivas, the protagonist must prove himself by fighting lions, serpents, bees, and lightning in four different kivas. Two, kivas are places of ceremony and instruction, not places of trial. Amongst us there are several language groups. One, what pueblo is it about? The subtitle is "A Pueblo Tale" but there are 19 pueblos in New Mexico, and we're not identical. It may have won the Caldecott, but even award-winning books can (and should) be set aside.
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