The Magic Weaver of Rugs: A Tale of the Navajo [Hardcover]

Jerrie Oughton (Author), Lisa Desimini (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Two women from a starving tribe go to the Spider Woman for help, and learn to build looms, dye wool, and weave with their very souls. Not until they return home, teach their tribe to weave, and begin to prosper, do they realize the value of their skills. A dramatic explanation of the origin of Navajo rugs and the skills of their weavers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In their second collaboration, Oughton and Desimini ( How the Stars Fell into the Sky ) bring to life another tale from the Navajo, this time explaining the origins of weaving and the famous Navajo rug. "In the beginning," hunger and cold are the source of constant worry until two women seek help through prayer. They are answered by Spider Woman, a forceful figure in shimmering emerald who radiates strength. She magically erects an enormous loom, then leaves the women with instructions: "Hold only beautiful thoughts in your mind while you weave" and "weave with your very souls." Fearful of trickery, the literal-minded women disobey, but the gift of weaving is theirs anyway. Oughton's fluid prose, studded with images ("white wolf of fear," "sun-blistered desert sand"), has a poetic intensity, mirrored by Desimini's lush if dark illustrations. These gleam with an otherworldiness, evoking an atmosphere of mythical wonder, rippling as if painted on fabric. Her Spider Woman, elfin yet godlike, severe yet generous, is especially well rendered. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-5-Sources for this story are not cited, and therein may lie some of its weaknesses. The Navajo people are starving and cold. Two women travel out into the mesa to pray for help. Here they encounter Spider Woman, a grand and frightening deity who teaches them how to weave rugs and dye wool. When the women tire of the long, hard task, they intentionally make mistakes that will free their souls from the rug. It is only after they return to their people and teach them their newly acquired skills that Spider Woman's gift becomes apparent. Intensely colored, stylized pastel illustrations capture the grandeur and mood of a mythic time. The focus on women and a female deity is refreshing and long overdue. However, inconsistencies mar this book. The weavers, who don't know a thing about cloth or dyeing, are wearing brightly colored post-conquest skirts and blouses. The rugs that the people weave are not especially Navajo, but rather generic striped blankets. And the colors, while attractive, do not reflect the Southwestern landscape. Such discrepancies illustrate the problems inherent in using borrowed cultural material.
Carolyn Polese, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin (March 28, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395661404
• ISBN-13: 978-0395661406
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,035,506 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #93 in Books > Children's Books > Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths > United States

More About the Author

Jerrie Preston Oughton, a Georgia native, grew up in North Carolina where she graduated from Broughton High School. The English teacher who inspired noted novelist and Duke University Professor, Reynolds Price, Armistead Maupin, and novelist Anne Tyler, also touched a chord deep within Oughton. Jerrie dedicated her first book, How The Stars Fell Into The Sky to Phyllis Peacock. After graduation from Meredith College, where she was chosen Outstanding Student Teacher of the Year, Oughton taught elementary school in Raleigh.

Literary dreams for Oughton may have begun in Raleigh classrooms in the late 50's, but it took her tenacity to make it pay off almost 40 years later when she became a published author. The Magic Weaver of Rugs, her 2nd book was published spring of 1994 by Houghton Mifflin Co. and was also named by the National Council for Social Studies as one of the notable books of the year. Both picture books were featured in Smithsonian Magazine in their year-end celebration of the best in children's books.

Oughton's first novel for young adults, Music from a Place Called Half Moon, takes place in the mountains of North Carolina. This novel won the 1995 Bank Street College Award for exceptional literature for young people and was nominated for the South Carolina Junior Book Award for 1997-98. The War In Georgia, Jerrie Oughton's second novel for young adults was honored by the American Library Association by being placed on the 1998 list of Recommended Books for Young Adults. Perfect Family, a novel of teen problems, is a favorite among teenage girls. A gripping story of teen love gone awry in the fifties, its subtle message is one of empowerment for young women in today's world.

Since publication of her first book in 1992, Jerrie has made author visits to over three hundred schools and universities in Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Maryland, and Ohio. Jerrie delights in visiting schools and sharing her message of hope and hard work paying off.

The Good Hostage is Jerrie's first adult novel

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Survival is better than a temporary answer, November 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Magic Weaver of Rugs: A Tale of the Navajo (Hardcover)

This book is about how a mythical being taught the native americans to weave rugs to keep them alive, through warmth and profit. The book is illustrated with vivid colors, and the story teaches young children that a temporary answer is not always the answer. It's language is simple, told in the form of a folktale - best read aloud.