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The Golden Serpent
The wise man Pundabi tries to help the wealthy king see the poverty and suffering in his kingdom by inventing the mystery of the Golden Serpent.
Hardcover
First published October 13, 1980
31 people want to read
About the author
Walter Dean Myers
224 books1,195 followerspseudonyms:
Stacie Williams
Stacie Johnson
Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia but moved to Harlem with his foster parents at age three. He was brought up and went to public school there. He attended Stuyvesant High School until the age of seventeen when he joined the army.
After serving four years in the army, he worked at various jobs and earned a BA from Empire State College. He wrote full time after 1977.
Walter wrote from childhood, first finding success in 1969 when he won the Council on Interracial Books for Children contest, which resulted in the publication of his first book for children, Where Does the Day Go?, by Parent's Magazine Press. He published over seventy books for children and young adults. He received many awards for his work in this field including the Coretta Scott King Award, five times. Two of his books were awarded Newbery Honors. He was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the Virginia Hamilton Award. For one of his books, Monster, he received the first Michael Printz Award for Young Adult literature awarded by the American Library Association. Monster and Autobiography of My Dead Brother were selected as National Book Award Finalists.
In addition to the publication of his books, Walter contributed to educational and literary publications. He visited schools to speak to children, teachers, librarians, and parents. For three years he led a writing workshop for children in a school in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Walter Dean Myers was married, had three grown children and lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness. He was 76 years old.
Stacie Williams
Stacie Johnson
Walter Dean Myers was born on August 12, 1937 in Martinsburg, West Virginia but moved to Harlem with his foster parents at age three. He was brought up and went to public school there. He attended Stuyvesant High School until the age of seventeen when he joined the army.
After serving four years in the army, he worked at various jobs and earned a BA from Empire State College. He wrote full time after 1977.
Walter wrote from childhood, first finding success in 1969 when he won the Council on Interracial Books for Children contest, which resulted in the publication of his first book for children, Where Does the Day Go?, by Parent's Magazine Press. He published over seventy books for children and young adults. He received many awards for his work in this field including the Coretta Scott King Award, five times. Two of his books were awarded Newbery Honors. He was awarded the Margaret A. Edwards Award and the Virginia Hamilton Award. For one of his books, Monster, he received the first Michael Printz Award for Young Adult literature awarded by the American Library Association. Monster and Autobiography of My Dead Brother were selected as National Book Award Finalists.
In addition to the publication of his books, Walter contributed to educational and literary publications. He visited schools to speak to children, teachers, librarians, and parents. For three years he led a writing workshop for children in a school in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Walter Dean Myers was married, had three grown children and lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. He died on July 1, 2014, following a brief illness. He was 76 years old.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 22, 2022
I had to get this one on Interlibrary Loan. Long out of print (pub 1980) and kind of a puzzle. What do you get when Black American award-winning author Walter Dean Myers tells an Indian folktale (that may not be a real folktale) and it's illustrated by award-winning white American illustrators Alice and Martin Provensen? You would think you'd get an instant classic. That's why I wanted to read it. But this is complicated.
First there's the question of whether this is an actual Indian story, and if so, this might be appropriation? If it's not an Indian story, then the author is setting his story in a time/place/trope that could read as a stereotype. Either way it's tricky.
The pictures are just gorgeous! You can tell the Provensens were trained animators. They know how to tell a story with pictures and keep the action going. They almost always include foreground, midground, and background, giving the pictures depth.
Then there's the story itself. I really liked it! But it takes a great deal of thinking to get the point-- higher-level thinking probably beyond most picture book readers. It's a shame because it is a particularly timely message for us in 2022: The one thing the rich king is missing is compassion for the people living in poverty around him. Did he learn this lesson? We are left not knowing, but older readers will get the message. And younger ones will certainly realize the wise man was much kinder to the poor people than the rich king. Clever adults will catch some common attitudes coming from the rich king that we still hear today.
First there's the question of whether this is an actual Indian story, and if so, this might be appropriation? If it's not an Indian story, then the author is setting his story in a time/place/trope that could read as a stereotype. Either way it's tricky.
The pictures are just gorgeous! You can tell the Provensens were trained animators. They know how to tell a story with pictures and keep the action going. They almost always include foreground, midground, and background, giving the pictures depth.
Then there's the story itself. I really liked it! But it takes a great deal of thinking to get the point-- higher-level thinking probably beyond most picture book readers. It's a shame because it is a particularly timely message for us in 2022: The one thing the rich king is missing is compassion for the people living in poverty around him. Did he learn this lesson? We are left not knowing, but older readers will get the message. And younger ones will certainly realize the wise man was much kinder to the poor people than the rich king. Clever adults will catch some common attitudes coming from the rich king that we still hear today.
June 23, 2019
#bookaday summer reading challenge #24. “How did I miss this Walter Dean Myers, and how could I possibly weed it?” I thought, when I saw this book on a list of books that hadn’t checked out in forever. So I set it aside and today I read it. And I read it again. I REALLY wanted to love this book. (I have loved WDM ever since I saw him in a live dramatic reading of “Love that Dog” many years ago at TLA.) But as much as I wanted to love it, The Golden Serpent feels flat. The philosophical message is indirect to the point of being indecipherable to kids, and I don’t know how it felt in 1980, but today it smacks of stereotypes and cultural insensitivity. 😢 ⭐️
May 22, 2022
A fun book for emerging / advanced readers
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February 25, 2024hai
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July 21, 2016How did I miss this 1980 publication? What a beautiful book. This is a work that can convince people of power to look what is right in front of them and recognize their own shortcomings. A wonderful book for thinking students!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews