How Raven Stole the Sun

by Maria Williams, Felix Vigil (Illustrator)

In this new addition to the popular Tales of the People series, striking illustrations combine with a fascinating retelling of a traditional Tlingit tale. A long time ago, Raven was pure white, like fresh snow in winter. This was so long ago that the only light came from campfires, because a greedy chief kept the stars, moon, and sun locked up in elaborately carved boxes. Determined to free them, the shape-shifting Raven resourcefully transformed himself into the chief's baby grandson and cleverly tricked him into opening the boxes and releasing the starlight and moonlight. Though tired of being stuck in human form, Raven maintained his disguise until he got the chief to open the box with the sun and flood the world with daylight, at which point he gleefully transformed himself back into a raven. When the furious chief locked him in the house, Raven was forced to escape through the small smokehole at the top ― and that's why ravens are now black as smoke instead of white as snow.   This engaging Tlingit story is brought to life in painterly illustrations that convey a sense of the traditional life of the Northwest Coast peoples.   About the Tales of the People series   Created with the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI), Tales of the People is a series of children's books celebrating Native American culture with illustrations and stories by Indian artists and writers. In addition to the tales themselves, each book also offers four pages filled with information and photographs exploring various aspects of Native culture, including a glossary of words in different Indian languages.

Genres: Picture Books, Folklore, Childrens, Indigenous, Fiction, Kids

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2001

Reviews

[Librosconkylie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful to learn about Tlingit History! Hadn’t known anything prior to finding this in a free little library

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic adaptation of the raven myth. I really like that it sticks to one tribe’s version, is by an indigenous author, and has some great non-fiction information and photographs at the end. The illustrations of people were not very appealing to me, and that is the sole reason I gave it four stars instead of five.

[Becky Loader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the illustrations but the story got a little ragged.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Long ago, when the People lived in darkness Raven was pure white from the tip of his beak to the tip of his tail. He was tired of living in darkness. He knew that Chief kept the sun, moon and stars in box in his cabin and did not share them with anyone. But Raven also knew that Chief's daughter was ready to have children. He changed himself into a pine needle in her cup so that she drank him right up.

When he was born to the Chief's daughter Chief was overjoyed with his grandson. As a child Raven would not stop crying until he was given what he wanted. And he wanted the 3 boxes containing the sun, moon and stars. Eventually his grandfather gave him all three even though Chief knew that the child would release what was in them.

After opening the third box and releasing the sun, Raven turned back into his bird self. Chief was furious and Raven knew that Chief would kill him if he didn't get out of there. The only way out was threw a tiny smoke outlet. When Raven came out the other side he was black from the tip of his beak to the tip of his tail.

Beautiful illustrations accompany the well-told tale. Native authors are the best ones to be telling their tales.

[Summer D Clemenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

How Raven Stole the Sun by Maria Williams is a traditional Native American folklore story of the Tlingit Tribe. The story talks about the selfish chief that kept the stars, moon and sun in boxes so all people had to live by campfire. The Raven, known as a trickster, came up with a plan to get the chief to let the stars, moon and sun out of the boxes so everyone could benefit from their light.

The illustrations by Felix Vigil are beautiful. This book was created by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian and this is just one of a series. It offers 4 pages of information and pictures exploring Native culture. I really enjoyed this book.

[Kate Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this in Alaska as a souvenir we’ll actually use for a few years for my kids, ages 3 and 5. I read it to my oldest last night, and he seemed nervous about the raven almost getting trapped. We made it through (short book) and then we read the additional context at the back; very helpful to share a little about cultures from the Pacific Northwest.

[Tiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it to a grade 1/2 class. They loved it. It led to a great convo about the importance of stories, and they had tons of wonderful questions.

[Ck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a tradition Tlingit story about the raven. I do like the illustrations a lot, not really the story though. Because it says that their was no sun, moon or stars, but the people were there. I dont understand how that could be. The main story though is about how the raven became black... and what tricks he used.

[Dotty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raven has such a rich list of stories and this one has both humor and the issue of parenting skills intertwined.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love legends, and this version of How Raven Stole the Sun is particularly lovely. I love both the text and the illustrations, as well as the physical feel of the book.

[Peder Haugsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much information about different Native American cultures. Would recommend!

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the image of the child turning into the raven will stay with me.