From Publishers Weekly
This story's relevant ecological theme, plus the crisp retelling and bright, funky expressionist art, may, for some, justify the purchase of yet another creation title. "When the first people came from the underworld, it is said they came up through a reed in the ocean," Jackson (Boris the Boring Boar) begins. However, they have forgotten to bring potable water with them. First Man sends several creatures back to fetch water, but all fail except the lowly snail, who is rewarded with a water flask that remains on his back to this day. The story is clever in its explanation of how other creatures, such as the turtle and frog, acquired their attributes. Best of all, Hubbard's (Four Fur Feet) gouache illustrations, showing a terrain dotted with rainbow-colored foliage and framed by skies with snail-like whorls of clouds, effuse the savory freshness and vitality of a new-born world. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3?The creation myth of the Dineh is extremely complex. Jackson retells a variant of a small portion of it: the bringing of water to the arid Earth. First Man sends out a number of water-searching parties. Beaver and Otter play and forget their task: for this, they are condemned to "...live in the swampy areas of lakes and never know the pleasure of clear, fresh water." Frog and Turtle try their best, but the spring Frog finds is dirty, so First Man tells them they must "...dine on bugs and live where the water is muddy and unclear." Snail, however, finds fresh water. Unbeknownst to her, it leaks out of the flask as she crawls along, and she falls asleep. First Man then takes the last drop, sings a water chant, and creates a river. He rewards Snail with her shell home, and First Woman gives her a silvery, moist trail that serves as a reminder of the value of water. The moral arbitrariness of this outcome may trouble some readers, but the story does convey the message that water is precious. Hubbard's illustrations are colorful and idiosyncratic. Pages dominated by the thirsty tan of dry land alternate with the blue and green of water and sky. Stylized distortions of various sorts?lumpy animals, boneless humans, and fantasy plants?enliven the pages. There is nothing in the design, however, that alludes to Navaho culture.?Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
