Earthmaker's Tales: North American Indian Stories about Earth Happenings by Gretchen Will Mayo (Illustrator)

Publishers Weekly

This companion book to the author/illustrator's Star Tales presents more examples of her lively storytelling style and her cogent organization of some of the many myths from Native American literature. Dividing the book into 16 brief sections, she has selected--from many tribes--stories that explain natural phenomena: ``Earthquake,'' ``Flood,'' ``Rainbow,'' ``Shining Waters,'' ``Fog,'' ``Volcano,'' etc. ``The Hunter and the Rainbow Woman,'' from the Hoh and Quileute traditions, offers reasons why two rainbows appear after some rains. According to the Menominee people, in ``Snowmaker Torments the People,'' a particularly harsh winter comes to an end when a man named Blue Feather defeats the bully Snowmaker. The stories are variously poignant, riveting and funny, with short introductions that offer further insights into tribal beliefs and customs. Ages 10-up. (Mar.)

School Library Journal

Gr 4-8-- An attractively illustrated companion volume to Mayo's Star Tales (Walker, 1987), this book follows the same format but focuses on Indian folktales dealing with the origins of natural phenomena of the earth. The large-print text includes 16 brief tales from a variety of tribes, including the Apache legend of how mountains were created and the Senecan tale of the Brave Girl who battles Storm Monster. Each tale is introduced by a simple Indian design and illustrated with effectively shaded black-and-white drawings filled with strong lines and simple shapes. Tales also contain several double-page drawings spread over the top of two pages of text. The short explanations which precede each tale are too brief and disjointed to be of much help in preparing young readers for the story which follows. The listing of sources at the end of the book indicates that the tales are authentic adaptations from ones recorded between the years 1830-1929. Because the narrative is little more than a sketchy outline, young readers may have difficulty following the plot. The Stolen Appaloosa (Bookmakers Guild, 1988), although it too lacks a good introduction, is a more readable version of Indian tales, since its editor takes the liberty of ``building on'' to original story sources. Adults might like to consider Keepers of the Earth (Fulcrum, 1988) for storytelling purposes because it provides suggested activities that children can do in addition to Indian tales. The value of Mayo's volume is that it does introduce young readers to the close relationship with nature that is common to American Indian folktales. --Yvonne A. Frey, Peoria Public Library, Ill.

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