Sun, Moon and Stars

by hoffman-mary-ray-jane

The sky is a vast storybook open above us. But it doesn't tell the same stories to everyone. For thousands of years, people have looked up at it, by day and by night, and taken from it the tales that explained some of the amazing things they saw there. The stories and beliefs gathered together here form a window to the imagination of people who did not know the explanations of the natural world that we take for granted today. We all share a desire to explain things in terms of what we see with our own eyes. Even though we know today that the moon stays the same size and shape all the time, we still talk about "a full moon" or "a crescent moon." We know the sun stays in the same place while the earth goes around it, yet we still use words like "sunrise" and "sunset". Mythology isn't bad science, it is something quite different. Through these ancient stories we learn something about the human mind, and with it something about ourselves. Scientific truth is not the only kind. Who knows what stories we might make up to explain what we see in the sky if we had nothing to go on but the evidence of our eyes? The appearance and movement of the sun, moon and stars will continue to fascinate and inspire us till the end of time.

Genres: Mythology, Picture Books, Childrens

Hardcover

First published September 1, 1998

Reviews

[Yolanda Morros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Precioso… quiero destacar las ilustraciones del libro, tienen unos colores exquisitos.

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Myths and legends of the sky, sun, moon and stars.

Story: Myths and legends from around the world are featured in this book along with folklore and superstition.

Characters: Characters from around the world are represented in story and pictures. Some will be familiar, while many may not be.

Language: Each culture is given 1-2 pages to tell a tale about the sub, moon, sky and stars. The pictures take up most of the pages, while the text is less.

Interesting, but unless really into the subjects, doesn't really hold the attention of the reader.

[Aravis Wheaton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sun, Moon, and Stars is a collection of myths and legends from around the world relating to the sky, sun, moon, and stars including tales such as "Anancy and the Flipflap Bird" (an Afro-Caribbean legend), "The Divided Lovers" (a Janapese myth), and "In the Sun's House (a Navajo myth). Interspersed through the pages are facts explaining historical misconceptions about these subjects and beautiful pictures accentuating the culture where the legend originated. The presentation of illustrations and words is varied throughout the book with the section entitled "Sunlore" displaying words in a circle and idioms splashed on the page. I might use this book instructionally when studying various cultures to compare and contrast how these celestial bodies were used in legends. Also there are numerous ways to use this book relating it with science. Copernicus is mentioned and could be studied, sailors used stars for navigation...this could lead to the book Carry on Mr. Bowditch, one of my favorites, in which navigation on the seas was accomplished with the aid of the sun and stars. Students could choose one of the legends and learn more about that culture and share their findings with the class, and there are countless art projects related to these subjects.

[Milena · Rating 1 out of 5]

A curation of stories by British writer Mary Hoffman and British illustrator Jane E. Ray that try to show how cultures from around the world had a keen observation of the sky.

Nevertheless, they do a terrible job when talking about the Mayan civilization as there are many inaccuracies in the paragraph. The Mayans are not from South America, Teotihuacan is not a Mayan pyramid, the Mayans and Aztecs are two different cultures and they do not deserve to be simplified as the way this author and illustrator did. The last sentence reproduces harmful stereotypes and reductionist concepts of two major and important civilizations of human history. It seems that the author and illustrator's main objective is to portray Mayans as barbaric.

It's very sad to find picturebooks like this one, given the fact that there is a robust scholarship about the Mayan civilization and the amazing legacy they have in terms of understanding the Cosmos. This book reproduces harmful narratives about Mesoamerican cultures and does not offer a safe space for Mesoamerican children to learn about their ancestors.

I found this book at the Birmingham Library, a very important library, and I hope they consider discarding this title.

[Andreia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jane Ray is, perhaps, my favorite children's illustrator. I discovered this book as a child and it is a fabulous edition; well printed, the use of different inks for texturing is remarkable, such as gold and silver. This book carries you through ancient stories and mythology about the universe around the world. I found it wonderfully illustrated and magical. One of my favs.

[Sophie Crane · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all this book has amazing illustrations, stories and myths from all over the world (and they state their origins on every single one) and it's great for kids to get a glimpse of new perspective that old cultures had. It's great fun for story time for everyone in the family. Two generations of my family have it already!

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Title: Sun,Moon and Stars
Author: Mary Hoffman
Type of text: Short stories

I liked this book because it has all the interesting stories about the Sun,Moon and Stars. The stories were based on legends or myths of many different countries.

I would recommend this book to people who are interested in the universe. This book is also good for people who do not have any knowledge about the planets.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations and well-told myths and folklore from a variety of different cultures, all relating to the sun, moon, and stars. This is a great source for stories to share with children and my child loves being able to flip through and pick stories to read.

I would have liked each page to identify which culture the myth came from (rather than having to flip to the back to check the sources) since I didn't easily recognize all of them.

[Megan Chonczynski · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is an introduction and a contents page for this book. The sky, sun, moon, and stars each have a section in the book. For each topic it tells the story behind it. For example the sky starts out in 1510 and then it tells the history. The illustrations help make the story more clear.

[Kendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little children's book of assorted world mythologies of how the Sun, Moon and Stars came to be. Fairly accurate for mostly single page stories, cheery and colorful drawings.