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The Magic Hummingbird: A Hopi Folktale
Two abandoned children occupy themselves by making a sunflower hummingbird which comes to life and brings them food and water and reunites them with their family
- GenresNative American
48 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1995
33 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 7, 2022
1995
A beautifully illustrated book, large colorful intricate designs.
Verda bought the book, probably when in Arizona going to an Elderhostel course and/or to visit Dorothy and Russell.
Verda gave the book to Eric. Now I will give it to Audrey for Winnie.
The writing isn't as natural sounding as I would like, but the story is otherworldly and interesting and human.
A beautifully illustrated book, large colorful intricate designs.
Verda bought the book, probably when in Arizona going to an Elderhostel course and/or to visit Dorothy and Russell.
Verda gave the book to Eric. Now I will give it to Audrey for Winnie.
The writing isn't as natural sounding as I would like, but the story is otherworldly and interesting and human.
February 23, 2017
This book caught my eye because I noticed the Native American Art work on the outside and I had to pick it up. The book has a note from the author which speaks about how it is a folktale translated to English and they tried extremely hard to keep the story as true to the original language and meaning as possible.
Two children are abandoned during a drought which killed all the crops and forced the village to leave looking for food. The two children almost starve to death but the brother carves his sister a hummingbird. While playing with it the hummingbird comes to life and flies away, soon returning with a small ear of corn for the children, this happens many times before the children are feeling a bit more fed. The children send the hummingbird out in hopes of finding their parents but the bird instead sets out on a journey to find the god Muy'ingwa and restore the bountiful state of the land.
The story is interesting but long and might be a little bit confusing for children as the story jumps around a little but I really think that the story stays true to folktale and is extremely educational in the sense of learning about Hopi Culture. The art is super colorful and really eye catching I can imagine spending a lot of time with a child asking them what they see in the pictures and what they think about the art. I really enjoyed the story and I think any child would be interested to learn about Hopi culture and learn about this story. Some think that the abandonment of the children in the first part is too much for children but I don't think that's such a big deal if you just explain to the children about the situation.
Two children are abandoned during a drought which killed all the crops and forced the village to leave looking for food. The two children almost starve to death but the brother carves his sister a hummingbird. While playing with it the hummingbird comes to life and flies away, soon returning with a small ear of corn for the children, this happens many times before the children are feeling a bit more fed. The children send the hummingbird out in hopes of finding their parents but the bird instead sets out on a journey to find the god Muy'ingwa and restore the bountiful state of the land.
The story is interesting but long and might be a little bit confusing for children as the story jumps around a little but I really think that the story stays true to folktale and is extremely educational in the sense of learning about Hopi Culture. The art is super colorful and really eye catching I can imagine spending a lot of time with a child asking them what they see in the pictures and what they think about the art. I really enjoyed the story and I think any child would be interested to learn about Hopi culture and learn about this story. Some think that the abandonment of the children in the first part is too much for children but I don't think that's such a big deal if you just explain to the children about the situation.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews