Friday, October 22, 2010

Arrow to the Sun

Title: Arrow to the Sun
Author: Gerald McDermott
Genre: Native American Children's Picture Book
Age Group: Elementary
Rating: 3 Stars
Arrow to the Sun is a Pueblo Indian Tale that would be ideal to read aloud when teaching a lesson to elementary school students about Native American culture.  As a Caldecott award winner for it's illustrations, this children's picture book has extremely vibrant and colorful images that are made up of geometric shapes and patterns to create abstract illustrations.  Some pages are completely wordless, allowing the students to make their own interpretations regarding what is happening in the story.

Similar to that of the Native American books I read for my genre/perspectives presentation, this book is told in the form of a Native American legend.  It is about a boy who goes on a search for his father once he reaches manhood, and becomes an arrow that he rides to the Lord in order to speak to him about being his son.  The boy passes many tests and goes on various adventures- another common theme found in Native American literature.  The storyline is almost mythical, and would surely interest students of young ages.  While teaching a lesson on Native American culture in my future classroom, I would definitely include this book.  I would also want to teach this book in the form of a big book, because I find the illustrations so unique and different from other books, that I would want students to pay close attention to the shapes and the patterns that they form.

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