From Publishers Weekly
Duncan blends several versions of a Navajo myth for this relatively abstract moral tale. When the Fourth World is created, the girl who will be Weaving Woman misses the lessons in leading a balanced life the rest of the People receive. Spider Woman later teaches her how to weave, and warns her not to spend too much time at it. But she becomes obsessed with weaving a beautiful blanket-and her spirit gets trapped in it. Spider Woman herself has to pull a strand of wool loose to free her. To this day, Navajo weavers leave a "spirit pathway" in their blankets, "so the spirit of the weaver will not be imprisoned by its beauty." As in Begay's Ma'ii and Cousin Horned Toad, the graceful figures of the characters appear on dappled backgrounds, brightly colored against pastoral Western landscapes during happy times, darker and often spooky as Weaving Woman traps herself. Duncan's tale carries a thoughtful message, grounded in well-chosen details and adeptly relayed through her personable storytelling. Ages 6-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From School Library Journal
Grade 3-6?Much more than a pourquoi tale, this story also concerns the rejection of obsession, even in the service of beauty, and recalls the Greek myth of Arachne. When Wandering Girl learns from Spider Woman how to make blankets from her sheep's wool, she is renamed Weaving Woman. She marries and spends a winter at her loom. In the spring, she discovers how to make dyes and is inspired to "create the most beautiful blanket in all of the world." As this goal consumes her, she forgets the Navajo Middle Way; her life loses its balance and her spirit becomes trapped in the blanket. Through a shaman's intervention, Spider Woman returns to pull a loose strand from the border, spoiling its perfection and freeing the weaver's spirit. Since then, the text adds, "every Navajo blanket has been woven with a pathway, so the spirit of the weaver will not be imprisoned by its beauty." The details Duncan adds from the Dineh creation story, as well as the happy ending, make it distinctively Navajo, as do Begay's light-spangled paintings. Significantly, in almost every one, the perfect rectangle of the illustration is broken by an element of the design extending beyond it: a visual reminder of the story's moral. The impact of the heroine's decision to use dyes is somewhat lessened by the brightly patterned clothing she wears throughout. Nevertheless, Begay's dramatic shifts of perspective, his innate sensitivity to the land and people depicted, and the text's powerful message about pride's deadly effects combine in an appealing and meaningful way.?Patricia (Dooley) Lothrop Green, St. George's School, Newport, RI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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