Status
Coming Soon
Call number
Collection
Genres
Publication
Harry N. Abrams (2020), Edition: Illustrated, 40 pages
Description
"This pre-Columbian creation myth tells the story of Quetzalcoatl, one of the most important deities in ancient Mesoamerica, and his quest to create humankind. The gods tried to make humans during each sun, or age, but each time failed. So when they grew tired, only one did not give up: Quetzalcoatl, also called the Feathered Serpent. Determined, the Feathered Serpent embarks on a dangerous journey full of fearsome foes and harsh elements, facing each trial with wisdom, bravery, and resourcefulness before confronting his final challenge at Mictlan, the underworld. With his instantly recognizable, acclaimed art style and grand storytelling, Tonatiuh recounts a dazzling creation tale of epic proportions"--
User reviews
LibraryThing member nbmars
Duncan Tonatiuh (toh-nah-teeYOU) is known for his illustrations that reflect the Pre-Columbian Mixtec artwork of the 15th century. (Mixtecs are an indigenous group from the southern part of Mexico from the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Puebla.) He said in an interview that he wanted “people,
Tonatiuh means sun or god of the sun in the Nahuatl language, which is the language the Aztecs spoke. This book tells a creation story from Nahuatl myths of a time when there were four other suns, or tonatiuhs. Each successive tonatiuh was marked by failed experiments in creating humans.
The gods wanted to give up, and gave the sacred bones to the lord of the underworld to keep. But Quetzalcóatl, the feathered serpent or. god of knowledge, did not want to give up. Through a number of difficult trials, he made it to the underworld and once more passed a test to get the god of the underworld to relinquish the bones to him. He mixed his own blood and the blood of other gods in the bones and made a new mix of humans. Tonatiuh writes:
“It is said by the elders that we are descendants of those humans and that we are living in the fifth Tonatiuh.”
The story ends with an Author’s Note, selected bibliography, and a glossary along with a pronunciation guide. (I noted that the pronunciation for the sun god Tonatiuh is TOH-nah-tee-oo, different from that of the author’s name.)
Tonatiuh’s gorgeous folkoric art features bright colors and lots of gold even in the underworld scenes. Like Pre-Columbian art, his is very geometric, with characters always in profile, and ears resembling the number three. The simplicity of the illustrations (which also tell the story without words) offset the details of the text, serving to extend the appropriate age range of this book.
Evaluation:. Creation myths always appeal to children. The simplicity of the illustrations (which also tell the story without words) offset the details of the much denser text, and thus serve to extend the appropriate age range of this book, given as 5 and up.
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specially children of Mexican origin—in both the U.S. and Mexico—to feel proud and see that their culture is interesting and beautiful.”Tonatiuh means sun or god of the sun in the Nahuatl language, which is the language the Aztecs spoke. This book tells a creation story from Nahuatl myths of a time when there were four other suns, or tonatiuhs. Each successive tonatiuh was marked by failed experiments in creating humans.
The gods wanted to give up, and gave the sacred bones to the lord of the underworld to keep. But Quetzalcóatl, the feathered serpent or. god of knowledge, did not want to give up. Through a number of difficult trials, he made it to the underworld and once more passed a test to get the god of the underworld to relinquish the bones to him. He mixed his own blood and the blood of other gods in the bones and made a new mix of humans. Tonatiuh writes:
“It is said by the elders that we are descendants of those humans and that we are living in the fifth Tonatiuh.”
The story ends with an Author’s Note, selected bibliography, and a glossary along with a pronunciation guide. (I noted that the pronunciation for the sun god Tonatiuh is TOH-nah-tee-oo, different from that of the author’s name.)
Tonatiuh’s gorgeous folkoric art features bright colors and lots of gold even in the underworld scenes. Like Pre-Columbian art, his is very geometric, with characters always in profile, and ears resembling the number three. The simplicity of the illustrations (which also tell the story without words) offset the details of the text, serving to extend the appropriate age range of this book.
Evaluation:. Creation myths always appeal to children. The simplicity of the illustrations (which also tell the story without words) offset the details of the much denser text, and thus serve to extend the appropriate age range of this book, given as 5 and up.
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Mexican picture-book author and artist Duncan Tonatiuh delivers another fascinating Aztec myth, following upon his earlier The Princess and the Warrior: A Tale of Two Volcanoes. That story told how the twin volcanos outside of Mexico City came to be, but here we learn about the five suns, and how
As Tonatiuh makes plain in his afterword to Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: A Mesoamerican Creation Myth, this story and its hero can be found in the belief systems of many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Toletcs, Mayan and Aztecs. This particularly retelling uses Nahuatl (Aztec) names and words, many of them glossed at the rear of the book. It is a fascinating story, and reminded me of similar creation myths I have encountered, from other cultures around the globe. The idea of the underworld, which one reaches by (among other things) crossing a great river, or the idea of a great and terrible dog guarding that world, are both themes I have seen in Greek and other mythologies. The idea of different races of humankind being created before our own is also one I have seen elsewhere, particularly in ancient Greek culture (the myth of the golden men, then the silver men, etc), and the idea of previous worlds before our own is also not uncommon. Finding these kinds of parallels is fascinating for me, as someone who loves folklore and mythology, but the story here was also just interesting, in its own right. The accompanying artwork, drawn and then enhanced digitally, was quite attention-grabbing, and is well-suited, stylistically speaking to the story. All in all, an engaging retelling of a fascinating creation myth, one I would recommend to picture-book readers who enjoy such fare, as well as to anyone interested in Aztec or other Mesoamerican civilizations and cultures.
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humans were created. Having created humans four times, with little success - each incarnation of human had some flaw, and was transformed into something else, from mountains to fish, monkeys to birds - the gods grew weary of the project. Only Quetzalcóatl, the Feathered Serpent and the god of knowledge, wanted to continue. But to do this, he had to retrieve the human bones given to Mictlantecuhtli, the god of the underworld. Traveling to Mictlan, Quetzalcóatl had to traverse nine different levels of the underworld, each with its own danger, confronting Mictlantecuhtli at the end, and meeting his final challenge. Eventually successful in escaping with the bones, he then created a new king of human, mixed from the bone dust of previous humans, and divine blood. From that fifth and final creation, came the human beings of today...As Tonatiuh makes plain in his afterword to Feathered Serpent and the Five Suns: A Mesoamerican Creation Myth, this story and its hero can be found in the belief systems of many Mesoamerican cultures, including the Toletcs, Mayan and Aztecs. This particularly retelling uses Nahuatl (Aztec) names and words, many of them glossed at the rear of the book. It is a fascinating story, and reminded me of similar creation myths I have encountered, from other cultures around the globe. The idea of the underworld, which one reaches by (among other things) crossing a great river, or the idea of a great and terrible dog guarding that world, are both themes I have seen in Greek and other mythologies. The idea of different races of humankind being created before our own is also one I have seen elsewhere, particularly in ancient Greek culture (the myth of the golden men, then the silver men, etc), and the idea of previous worlds before our own is also not uncommon. Finding these kinds of parallels is fascinating for me, as someone who loves folklore and mythology, but the story here was also just interesting, in its own right. The accompanying artwork, drawn and then enhanced digitally, was quite attention-grabbing, and is well-suited, stylistically speaking to the story. All in all, an engaging retelling of a fascinating creation myth, one I would recommend to picture-book readers who enjoy such fare, as well as to anyone interested in Aztec or other Mesoamerican civilizations and cultures.
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LibraryThing member sloth852
Gorgeously illustrated tale of Aztec mythology, told perfectly for the audience.
Awards
Aesop Prize (Prize — 2021)
International Latino Book Award (Bronze Medal — 2021)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Children's Books — 2020)
Tejas Star Reading List (2024)
El día de los niños / El día de los libros (3-5 — 2021)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
11.38 inches
ISBN
1419746774 / 9781419746772