The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas

by María García Esperón, David Bowles (Translation), Amanda Mijangos (Illustrations)

Fifteen thousand years before Europeans stepped foot in the Americas, people had already spread from tip to tip and coast to coast. Like all humans, these Native Americans sought to understand their place in the universe, the nature of their relationship with the divine, and the origin of the world into which their ancestors had emerged.

The answers lay in their sacred stories.

This is a collection of stories from nations and cultures across two continents—the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs called it—from the edge of Argentina all the way up to Alaska.

Genres: Middle Grade, Short Stories, Mythology, Nonfiction, History, Indigenous, Native American

240 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 2021

About the author

La escritora mexicana orienta su buen hacer como escritora hacia el público infantil y juvenil, aunque cualquier lector puede gozar de sus textos, puesto que, como ella misma dice, “Una de las inquietudes que tengo como escritora de literatura infantil y juvenil –tal vez la más grande- es la de ofrecer a los jóvenes lectores textos que reflejen la riqueza de la tradición cultural y literaria.”

Reviews

[Allison Hurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightfully rendered version of so many myths from all over the Americas. I really enjoyed the flow because it bounces back and forth between peoples, so you get to see a sort of evolution from creation myths to explanatory tales to cautionary ones to ones just for entertainment, in the way all oral traditions often bounce around.

An excellent resource.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved reading these stories. Almost all of them were new to me, not just in the ways the stories unfolded, but in the cosmologies they represent. But I wish the book had been organized differently.

The stories are shuffled together, irrespective of origin, so it's difficult to get a sense for what the Nahua or the Taino or the Andean peoples believe. Instead, the details of each pantheon of gods or heroic figures or creation tales all blend together. And if I hoped to pick up some of the pronunciation for each people's sacred figures? That proved time-consuming and frustrating as the book bounced from one language to another.

Along the same lines, while there's a thorough pronunciation guide in the backmatter, none of the cultures are given pronunciations. And while the glossary does an excellent job of defining and instructing on pronunciation for the gods, heroes, and monsters in the stories, it doesn't bother defining anything else, even when those unknown words aren't given much context in the stories, themselves.

There are also several cultures which receive very little attention in the book—mostly those in North America—and when I checked the bibliography, there weren't many sources listed that might allow me to explore those cultures further. A Recommended Reading section would've been really helpful, especially if those books had been vetted by the experts listed in the "special thanks."

I'm glad books like this are getting published more and more regularly, but they're still pretty thin on the ground, and this one was not as satisfying or enlightening as I hoped it would be. My mind feels stuffed with new stories, but I don't really have a sense of who those stories represent or how those people might have seen, or still see, the world.

[Stephanie Ridiculous · Rating 5 out of 5]

I suuuuuuper enjoyed this.

In particular I think listening to the audio book, narrated by the translator, was a delight. The breadth of stories here is quite enjoyable; origin stories from humming birds to the moon, creation stories, moral lessons - this collection has so much!

Please ignore the other reviews that complain about the order - let go of your western understanding of storytelling, settle in with a nice cup of tea, and enjoy these beautiful but brief glimpses into other cultures.

[Betzabe Morfin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conocer la cosmovisión de los pueblos de América es sorprendente.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful stories. Especially lovely to read the stories about two-spirit folks.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice group of stories.

[Leonardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

La creación del mundo, el origen de dioses y animales, leyendas de amor y aventuras, procedentes de todas las regiones del continente americano, desde Alaska hasta Tierra de Fuego, son presentadas y recreadas con pasión e inteligencia en este Diccionario de mitos de América. Desde tradiciones de culturas más conocidas y difundidas (aztecas, mayas, guaraníes y culturas andinas), hasta taínos, sioux, mapuches, el libro incluye lo mismo que las aventuras épicas de los dioses mayas en el Xibalbá, hasta encuentros entre humanos y espíritus/dioses animales, como la diosa araña Waleker (quien le enseño a tejer a los wayuu de Colombia y Venezuela) o el guerrero guaraní Uirapurú (convertido en ave para poder cantarle a un amor imposible). Los relatos de estos mitos y leyendas van acompañados de ilustraciones inspiradas en el arte americano previo a la conquista. Quizás el único pero que tenga esta antología es que, a pesar de su título, los mitos mesoamericanos (mayas y aztecas, principalmente) representan casi el cincuenta por ciento de los textos incluidos aquí, en menoscabo de la inclusión de mitos de otras regiones de América.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro bellísimo ... que merece una bella traducción al inglés. ;)

[Malli (Chapter Malliumpkin) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual Rating: 4.5 ⭐


Content/Trigger Warnings: Death, blood, violence, grief


This was really enjoyable read for me. For the majority of this book, I knew about a lot of the stories told. So nothing really surprised me or was really new to me. Which is why this isn't a full five star read for me. The stories are pretty short and easy a good time if you enjoy fast reads. The other thing I want to note is that there is an Indigenous Glossary and information at the back of the book. So if you're a non-Indigenous reader, you'll have that to help aid with any pronunciation or anything that may be confusing for you.

Overall, a really great experience and one I definitely recommend if you're looking to add more Indigenous literature to your tbr. Even though I'm familiar with a lot of the stories in this book, I still had a very enjoyable time and definitely recommend it!


All thoughts, feelings, experiences, and opinions are honest and my own.


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[Madelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

All these stories are pretty short. Lots of similarities to other creation myths and biblical narratives… floods, gods fashioning humans out of wood/dirt, gods destroying humanity for being evil. And plenty of stories about twins. I think this book would have been better if there was some extra explanation and context added about the different people groups and their culture.

[K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful YA collection of very short origin stories from nations and cultures in the Americas (the Sea-Ringed World, as the Aztecs called it); most of the stories were new to me. I’ve read complaints that the stories weren’t arranged by region but that was part of the storytelling magic for me - oral story telling is often not exact in time or location. Really lovely.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection of folklore and myths from a lot of different Indigenous American cultures. I think I would have gotten more out of it had they been organized and grouped by culture, but instead they seem to be in completely random order. Some I was familiar with, others were brand new to me.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

La mayoría de los cuentos en este libro son de 3-4 páginas, y cuentan historias de Alaska, Canadá, Estados Unidos, México, El Caribe y de algunos países andinos. Muchos de los cuentos son sobre la creación del universo, de la tierra y de los humanos, y otros son de amor o desamor.

[Bob Lopez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's fine, it was fine. There were just too many stories and they started to jumble together for me.

[Bethany Bruns · Rating 2 out of 5]

Important book… I’m glad it exists… I could have been done after reading 10 of the stories instead of 52.

[Dergrossest · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book for the beautiful artwork and the chance to read the mythology of the First-Ones-Here Americans. The artwork is truly lovely and did not disappoint. Unfortunately, such was not the case with the rest of the book.

The author of this book made a few curious choices at the outset which never really gave it a chance to succeed. First, the author decided to provide absolutely zero context for any of the stories, so you have no idea about the society which produced the works or how the individual stories fit into their greater cosmology. Second, the author decided not to keep all the myths of a single society together in order, so there is much disjointedness and little chance of getting a feel for the story-arc or context of the stories. Third, some of the stories the author selected are disappointingly brief, cruel, simply mean-spirited and/or repetitive.

Honestly, it is like someone wanted to write a survey of Western myths and religion, told you nothing about the civilizations the stories were from, and randomly picked minor stories with no connection to each other. What would one think of the Bible if the only story you read was that of Jehoram and the cannibal mothers from 2 Kings 6:28-29? Or if all you read from the Greek myths was The Bacchae by Euripedes? Or if all you read from the Norse myths was Loki seducing and being impregnated by a giant’s horse? Not all of us show up to the party with an encyclopedic knowledge of the Inca, Aztec, Maya, etc., and if we did, this is not the book we would be reading.

Nevertheless, there are a few beautiful stories hidden in here which I found very entertaining and poignant. The stories about why Chichen Itza was abandoned, or how the Sleeping Bear Dunes came to be formed were absolutely beautiful. The stories about generations of a Mayan family first succumbing to, and then defeating, the Lords of the Underworld were inspiring as well. It is just too bad that the author sapped the strength of many of these stories by including other less inspiring tales of little discernable import or beauty in between.

I can only recommend this book to those readers who have more than a passing knowledge of Mesoamerican cultures and some of their mythologies. I certainly would not recommend this book to children who would undoubtedly come away with a very skewed understanding of what some of these great civilizations and their people were truly like. This was a real opportunity missed.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Sea-Ringed World: Sacred Stories of the Americas tells the sacred stories of the First Nations of North and South America. Spanning across two continents, author María García Esperón, illustrator Amanda Mijangos, and translator David Bowles, tap into the power and beauty First Nations saw in their world and the awe they expressed through their storytelling. These tales provide readers with an intimate look at First Nations cultures from the Arctic to the tip of South America and many, many other cherished, important places in between.

The Sea-Ringed World capably helps fill a glaring void in middle grades and young adult literature. The anthology shines a light on the vast and diverse First Nations cultures of North America and South America. It is a topic that merits more attention. Though the stories are complex and varied, they still consistently draw out universal themes. They raise the big questions all civilizations young and old, large and small grapple with and ponder. How did we get here? Who are our ancestors? What is our relationship with the universe? When the novel’s creators thread together tales to probe these questions, they also create opportunities for readers to make connections between cultures, time periods, and regions. Much time is devoted to the sacred stories of the Ancient Greeks or Ancient Egyptians in elementary and middle grade classrooms. The First Nations possess a literary and oral history equally as compelling, significant, and rich. The Sea-Ringed World not only makes that fact clear but also demands to have those narratives included in any study of the past. For any reader, The Sea-Ringed World will be a deeply inspiring, personal, or illuminating experience. Its presence in a classroom will also contribute to a more inclusive curriculum that centers and celebrates First Nations.

Thank you to Edelweiss+ and publisher, Levine Querido, for an eARC of this book.

[Wendy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous collection - I’m delighted it exists. The stories are wonderful and wide-ranging; the illustrations are absolutely lovely. The organization of the stories felt pretty slapdash and random, but that worked fine for purposes of reading just a couple stories at a time without more exalted studious aims.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really wonderful translation of so many indigenous stories. A Sea Ringed World is a collection of myths and sacred stories from different Indigenous cultures of the Americas. The Indigenous cultures featured discuss stories that range from creation stories, to the tales of the struggle for survival, war, conquest, and exile— showing the rise and fall of empires and families. In this vivid representation of the oral traditions passed down over thousands of years, often the use of rhythm and cadence in Esperón’s retellings, is not only preserved but enhanced in Bowles’ translation.

This translation mirrors the natural cycles found within the stories—sun and moon, seasons, life and death—while also evoking the sound and feel of traditional oral storytelling. Through this cadence, a connection is drawn between the diverse cultural narratives, showing how the Indigenous peoples of the Americas viewed their world and place in it. The rhythmic flow creates a seamless experience for the reader, linking tales of creation, survival, and transformation across different regions and epochs. Mijangos’ illustrations further enhance this connection by unifying the stories visually, reflecting their themes in a consistent palette.

Rhythm and cadence are central to the storytelling style of The Sea-Ringed World. As many Indigenous cultures relied on oral traditions to pass down their sacred stories, the poetic and rhythmic structure used by Esperón and Bowles allows readers to experience the translated stories often as rhythmic flow, inviting readers into the ancient world of these peoples, creating a bridge through cadence between the past and the present, and between the different cultures represented. Each story becomes a verse in a larger song, binding the narratives together across time and geography.

It is at the beginning of each story, through the poems, that the reader is able to find the thread that binds us all. While the stories come from distinct Indigenous cultures spread from the Arctic to South America, the consistent use of rhythm and cadence creates a sense of continuity across the collection. Whether describing creation myths, cautionary tales, or stories of survival, the rhythmic patterns employed by Esperón and Bowles foster a sense of unity, suggesting that these cultures, though geographically and historically diverse, are connected by their shared human experience and reverence for the world around them. The cadence of the prose links the different traditions, turning the collection into a single, flowing narrative that echoes the oral histories of Indigenous peoples.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I love about this collection: the diversity, the short stories, and the storytelling. Starting with diversity, I love that so many cultures/tribes who usually go underrepresented in indigenous collections were included. Not only that, but they took the helm for this. I was so excited to get a glimpse into stories from indigenous groups all over the Americas, from top to bottom. I also liked that the stories were short. It made this a quick, enjoyable read. Last the storytelling was beautiful, and I could tell the author put a lot of care into each story and having them told and represented with that care.

I unfortunately didn’t rate higher because I found the collection a bit confusing, and a bit much. I think this could have been a little shorter. There are a lot of stories that are quite similar and could have been cut. It just became so much that even if the stories are well written and entertaining, there are just so many from different cultures that they sort of bleed together, and I’m struggling to remember what stories were Taìno, Bribri, Nahua, etc. There could have been some different organization to help this. Maybe putting all of the Nahua stories grouped together, the Taìno, and so on. There was also one group where the story was continued at several points through the collection, and I just don’t get the reasoning.

I wouldn’t say this is all a big negative persay, only that the organization did make it hard for me to retain a lot of the information, and with each story being so intriguing, I wanted to remember them more. I only remember popular elements like stories being about revenge, love, the creation of worlds/civilizations, and forbidden love.

I will say, that there is an Ojibwe story here about Sleeping Bear Dunes, and being Ojibwe from Michigan, I loved the story so much. We learn about it growing up, but to see it included and handled so carefully was a joy.

Overall, a good collection that I will be recommending. Just could use some more cohesion.

TW: blood, death, disease, flood, drowning, violence, war, infidelity, murder, depression, suicide, bullying, incest, burn, beheading, grief, abuse, broken bones, child death, abduction, and animal death.

Tribes: Muisca, Hopi, Nahua, Toltec, Maya, K’iche’, Itza, Mopan, Yucatec, Guarani, Andean, Mapuche, Blackfoot, Selk’nam, Taíno, Inuit, Sugpiaq, Sioux, Cabecar, Bribri, Wixarika, Ojibwe, and Wayuu.

Rep: stories with mlm, bi?, two-spirit, wlw.

[Eduardo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would have been good to have finished and reviewed on Monday. Oh welp!

I’m not sure what the theme of this collection of stories is. The subtitle says “Sacred Stories from the Americas”, but it seems to be ‘stories we think are cool’. Which is fine. I just don’t know why the stories are mostly from Central and South America rather than more representative? It’s not bad, it’s not even a criticism, I just don’t know why it focuses the way it does. The book has a lot of good stories, but if you’re looking for a specific figure or story, you have no way of knowing if it’ll be here unless you get a look at the table of contents before picking it up.

[I think Nahua, Maya, and Andean get the most representation? Not sure why/how that worked out.]

There are also some chapters that are continuations of previous chapters , which is cool because I would have been really bummed had I only gotten small fragments of the story of the Hero Twins of Maya mythology. Other things, like the Taino stories, are unrelated other than being from the same culture.

It seems likely to me that this was aimed at younger audiences (middle grade and teens, I guess?). It’s not like it censors too much, but there are a couple of stories I’m more familiar with where a specific detail, not so G-rated detail, was left out, and I remember thinking, “Hm, yes, something else happens here.”

Still, they’re great stories! And it’s handy that the back of the book has a glossary, a list of where the different cultures are from, and a map giving approximate locations in the Americas. Because of how disorganized it is, I don’t know if the book is a good guide to all of these things, but it’s not a bad introduction if you get it.

[Sherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

2022 ALA Margaret Batchelder Honor book. Translated by David Bowles

This is a collection of ancient stories of Native American people. The stores have been translated to preserve the sacred stories, narratives of indigenous wisdom, the lore that guided life, love, war and worship. The talents of author Maria Garcia Esperol, translator David Bowles and the illustrations of Amanda Mijangos seek “to take up the threads of some indigenous cultures and we have a unique and varied tapestry that gives just a glimpse of their traditions.”

I found the reading hard going as the translations lacked fluidity. The parsing of sentences seemed stilted. Many sentences were incomplete. I w found the stories fascinating, but afterwards wished that they had been organized to gather the stories of each culture together, rather that popping up through the book. The range and diversity of the tales and cultures is laudable.

Lush use of blue, black and white used for the illustrations, headings, poetry at the beginning g of each story serve to connect and unify the book. There also are a Transcription of Indigenous Terms, Pronunciation Guide, quick guide to Cultures, a very helpful Map showing the appropriate locations of the various cultures, an extensive Glossary, and a Bibliography. Printed on heavy stock, with generous sized text, this is a heavy book to read.

[mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

relevant and interesting

i had bought this book some time ago, but had not read it. i decided to start it after enrolling in a course about the intersection of science and religion, wanting clues as to what native people of the Americas believed in. i trully enjoyed this book, and i think that it is important for people to know this stories which are often overlooked because of racism. no hate to roman or greek myths, but why are they considered “classics” and these, which deal with many of the same topics, are not even talked about or known?
the structure of the book troubled me quite a bit, the constant change of topic and culture made it hard to get into, and at times i was lost. i think it would have been more powerful (and clearer) if they had put the map and explanation of the cultures at the beginning, and if they had sorted the stories by topic (cosmology, eschatology…) or by location so that some sort of narrative was followed. still i enjoyed it, and i found the poems and illustrations a wonderful touch.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, the art is my favorite thing about this book, and the layout and general design...it’s just a really pretty book. I actually didn’t know anything at all about what this book is before starting it, I just saw it on display at the library and picked it up on the strength of the cover art alone.

I found the stories really interesting, and some really hit me kind of hard (the polar bear story, about the cubs, arghhh!), but I found it sort of strange how they were arranged. I think I like the idea of grouping them by location rather than...uh...was there some sort of order? If so, I might have just missed that entirely, because they sort of seemed to just bounce around all over the place topic-wise.

A few of these stories I was vaguely familiar with, but most of them were completely new to me, and they definitely made me interested in learning more about the people they came from. I appreciated the pronunciation notes and glossary in the back as well.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This project is incredibly important and the stories are well-written. It was refreshing to read non-European mythology. I listened to the audiobook and thought the narration was quite good, especially the pronunciations.

However, the organization of this book is a mess. It’s in alphabetical order, rather than being organized by the culture the story is from, thematically, or by chronology. As a result, it’s hard to get an ideal of any of the cultures’ entire cosmology, and the stories end up all jumbled together in your mind. For example, the saga of the Mayan Hero Twins is split across the entire book, interspersed with totally different stories from other cultures that make you forget was was happening. And you’ll read, say, the story of a god’s squabble with another god before you read about the origin of that god.

Overall, I support what this book is trying to do, but these stories (and the reader) deserve better treatment.

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indigenous stories, anthology, native american myths
This book has many stories from many different peoples in the Americas, each lovingly put into textual format and bound into this book. To have such a wealth of stories from so many different American peoples put into physical manifest is invaluable. Some of these stories may be more widely known, while others may have been unheard of outside of their communities. By archiving these stories into one book, it has ensured that these stories will not, as many before them have been, be forgotten.
The book The Sea Ringed World is a collection of stories from around the Americas with their genre as their commonality, all the stories in this book are folktales. Some are myths and some are legends, telling stories as facts of creation or narratives of actual historical events. There are some fables in this book, they aim to show a moral or teach us lessons while others are trickster tales, where a sly or clever character outsmarts others.

[Lucy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting stories, but they tended to blur together. A lot of stories about how the world came to be. I wish they had been better organized so that stories from a particular culture were together instead of jumbled in with all the others. No apparent organization. I had to take a lot of breaks with this one. I was getting bored.
I was glad to find the glossary with pronunciations at the back, though this was not sufficiently inclusive. The map showing where the cultures were located was helpful since the stories didn't indicate this at all. More information would have been appreciated. There were at least 14 stories from the Nahua of Mexico, 9 Maya, 6 Andean, but only a few from U.S./Canada territory: one Inuit, one Ojibwe, one Blackfoot, one Hopi, one Alutiiq (Sugpiaq) of Alaska.
Not a book I want to reread.

[Kevin Cazarez Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌟4/5

A very cool collection of short stories, myths, and legends from indigenous cultures all over the Americas. There was a heavy emphasis on Latin American indigenous groups (which was honestly fine by me since that’s my special interest) and a huge diversity of cultures. The diversity in the collection and stories has made me want to explore more stories from the Nahuatl and Mayans as well as look into collections featuring Andean and Taino stories.

The only downside is that it’s a little difficult to get used to the bouncing around of cultures. Especially since most stories within indigenous cultures build upon each other’s lore, making breaks between stories a little hard when reading the book over a long period of time.

Still, it was a very good anthology, one which I will definitely be referencing back to in the future as I explore indigenous stories.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a complimentary copy from Raincoast Books for my review.

The sea-ringed world is a collection of 56 stories from various Native American groups of the United States, Mexico along with Central and South America.

The artwork is done in blue, black and white motifs.

I found it to be a well-done book with good variety in these stories that would applicable to various homeschool settings. This middle-school read helps readers learn the stories of those who have lived here before. Understanding a persons past helps to build connections in the future. Maria Garcia Esperon has done a good job of connecting

The stories are well worth reading and the illustrations make me think of Native American folklore.
Worth getting.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging stories, well told and narrated (I did a mix of reading and audiobook). I started with all the Maya stories because I was on the Yucatan peninsula, then read the rest cover to cover. I probably should have taken more time with it. Heavy skew toward the Nahua people, probably based on the author’s home. Amazing stories - several lessons and stories similar across the cultures (and even western religions). Understanding/emphasis of overconsumption/population health throughout, as well. (My favorite may have been the Inuit story “Aakulujjuusi and Uumarnituq” about wolves & their role in creating a healthy prey population.) Also very helpful as we visited Maya sites and heard Maya stories to have this background. Book has beautiful illustrations. Definitely recommend overall!