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When the World Was Young: Creation and Pourquoi Tales
A collection of ten tales from diverse cultures, including stories from Ghana and Iceland, provides young readers with exciting explanations of how the earth came into being.
80 pages, Hardcover
First published August 17, 1995
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About the author
Margaret Mayo
59 books8 followersThere is more than one author with this name
For the Romance novelist see: Margaret Mayo
Margaret Mary Cumming was born 10 May 1935 in London, England, the daughter of William John and Anna (Macleod) Cumming. On 28 July 1958, she married Peter Robin Mayo, a university lectured, and they had three children: Roderick, Katrina and Andrew.
Margaret Mayo was a children's literature and folktales writer. A former teacher, she uses her wide-ranging experience with children in her writing. She lives in Brighton.
For the Romance novelist see: Margaret Mayo
Margaret Mary Cumming was born 10 May 1935 in London, England, the daughter of William John and Anna (Macleod) Cumming. On 28 July 1958, she married Peter Robin Mayo, a university lectured, and they had three children: Roderick, Katrina and Andrew.
Margaret Mayo was a children's literature and folktales writer. A former teacher, she uses her wide-ranging experience with children in her writing. She lives in Brighton.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 16, 2019
Tales of creation and porquoi (why) from the Akan-Ashanti of Ghana, the Karok, Klamoth, Huron, and Eskimo Unalit of the US, the Polynesians, the Nupe of Nigeria, the Icelanders, the Quiche Maya of Guatemala, the Egyptians, and the Euahlayi of Australian Aborigines. She researched far and wide to present these illustrated stories of the baker, the wily coyote and his friends, the sly Maui, the tortoise, the raven, the sun god, and many more.
December 28, 2014
3.5 stars. An interesting collection of stories about how the world/people/life etc came to be. A few I was aware of, but one or two were new to me, particularly The Magic Millstones. I love mythology and folklore and few things give such an insight into a group of people as where they believe they came from and how they explain the world around them. The stories include:
The Girl Who Did Some Baking - Why do people come in different colours? It depends how long you leave them in the oven of course! This is a pretty popular concept in stories worldwide. This particular version involves Nyame - sky god of the Akan-Ashanti.
Catch It and Run - Animals steal the first fire from the gods. A popular Native American legend. I particularly liked how the fire was hidden in the tree - explaining why rubbing sticks together can make fire.
Maui and His Thousand Tricks - A Polynesian story in which the title character catches the sun to make daytime longer.
Tortoise's Big Idea - A really sweet story, this one, in which tortoises and people (but not rocks) decide they want to have children. To do so, the god tells them that if they have children, they have to give up eternal life and one day die (or there would become too many people/tortoises/etc). They all willingly choose death so that they might have children. Origin: Nigeria - Nupe tribe.
Raven and the Pea-Pod Man - This Eskimo/Inuit legend places a raven as god and creator. His descendants become the ravens we know today.
Emu and Eagle's Great Quarrel - An Aboriginal story about the sun being created from the golden yolk of the emu's egg, kicked out of the nest by the eagle after they bump into each other in the dark. The moon is created to make sure the night-owls of the animal world still get up on time. Kookaburras become mother nature's alarm clock. I rather liked this one.
The Magic Millstones - A Scandinavian tale about, of all things, why the sea is salty. It's all down to greed and a set of magic millstones apparently. I'm rather intrigued by the women who work the millstones although I tend to think they're more like the Norns than the Valkyries, which Mayo also mentions. My favourite story of the bunch. I so should have taken Viking Studies.
The Mud on Turtle's Back - Another pretty well known Native American (Iroquois/Huron) story of how the earth is created. Turtles seem to be particularly popular in creation stories.
Ra, the Shining Sun God - Egyptian story which tells us about the creation of people, why monkeys look like people and why the sun is in the sky, amongst other things.
Feathered Snake and Huracan - Quiché Maya - It took the gods several tries to get people that were clever enough to worship them, but not so clever to see them as equals.
The Girl Who Did Some Baking - Why do people come in different colours? It depends how long you leave them in the oven of course! This is a pretty popular concept in stories worldwide. This particular version involves Nyame - sky god of the Akan-Ashanti.
Catch It and Run - Animals steal the first fire from the gods. A popular Native American legend. I particularly liked how the fire was hidden in the tree - explaining why rubbing sticks together can make fire.
Maui and His Thousand Tricks - A Polynesian story in which the title character catches the sun to make daytime longer.
Tortoise's Big Idea - A really sweet story, this one, in which tortoises and people (but not rocks) decide they want to have children. To do so, the god tells them that if they have children, they have to give up eternal life and one day die (or there would become too many people/tortoises/etc). They all willingly choose death so that they might have children. Origin: Nigeria - Nupe tribe.
Raven and the Pea-Pod Man - This Eskimo/Inuit legend places a raven as god and creator. His descendants become the ravens we know today.
Emu and Eagle's Great Quarrel - An Aboriginal story about the sun being created from the golden yolk of the emu's egg, kicked out of the nest by the eagle after they bump into each other in the dark. The moon is created to make sure the night-owls of the animal world still get up on time. Kookaburras become mother nature's alarm clock. I rather liked this one.
The Magic Millstones - A Scandinavian tale about, of all things, why the sea is salty. It's all down to greed and a set of magic millstones apparently. I'm rather intrigued by the women who work the millstones although I tend to think they're more like the Norns than the Valkyries, which Mayo also mentions. My favourite story of the bunch. I so should have taken Viking Studies.
The Mud on Turtle's Back - Another pretty well known Native American (Iroquois/Huron) story of how the earth is created. Turtles seem to be particularly popular in creation stories.
Ra, the Shining Sun God - Egyptian story which tells us about the creation of people, why monkeys look like people and why the sun is in the sky, amongst other things.
Feathered Snake and Huracan - Quiché Maya - It took the gods several tries to get people that were clever enough to worship them, but not so clever to see them as equals.
August 11, 2016
Pourquoi is a French word translated as why, and the author retells ten multicultural creation stories. These brief stories explain natural phenomena, such as why there are people of all colors, the origins of the sun, stars, and moon, and how knowledge of fire came about. The stories abound with fanciful gods of human or animal form, and include artwork supportive of key ideas for each.
This hardback print edition includes a brief introductory page about creation and pourquoi tales. Two pages of endnotes describe brief origins for each story, including common cultural roots for a given concept. Each story credits a specific cultural origin at the conclusion.
This reviewer did not detect noticeably controversial or didactic content. Cultural representations include Africans (Ghana), Pacific Islanders, Egyptian, Native American, and Norway. The authenticity and accuracy of the stories or information given is beyond the expertise of this reviewer. The comment from Booklist suggests a grade range of 4 to 7, and suited to read aloud to younger students.
Additional texts featuring this theme include How & Why Stories (World Storytelling from August House) (ISBN: 0874835615), with 25 pourquoi stories from around the world. This selection may suit readers up through the 8th grade. Numerous picture books are available that focus upon one tale, such as How Chipmunk Got His Stripes (ISBN: 0142500216), a picture book suited to K-3.
Three classroom uses come to mind for any of these texts, each easily scalable and extensible. Older students, perhaps grades 4 and higher, could select and compare specific origins from the point of view of two or more cultures. For example, students could create graphic organizers, posters, written reports, and performances comparing origins of the sun. A second idea involves student authorship of a creation story. The third use is student analysis of the how a specific culture shapes the nature of the creation story.
This hardback print edition includes a brief introductory page about creation and pourquoi tales. Two pages of endnotes describe brief origins for each story, including common cultural roots for a given concept. Each story credits a specific cultural origin at the conclusion.
This reviewer did not detect noticeably controversial or didactic content. Cultural representations include Africans (Ghana), Pacific Islanders, Egyptian, Native American, and Norway. The authenticity and accuracy of the stories or information given is beyond the expertise of this reviewer. The comment from Booklist suggests a grade range of 4 to 7, and suited to read aloud to younger students.
Additional texts featuring this theme include How & Why Stories (World Storytelling from August House) (ISBN: 0874835615), with 25 pourquoi stories from around the world. This selection may suit readers up through the 8th grade. Numerous picture books are available that focus upon one tale, such as How Chipmunk Got His Stripes (ISBN: 0142500216), a picture book suited to K-3.
Three classroom uses come to mind for any of these texts, each easily scalable and extensible. Older students, perhaps grades 4 and higher, could select and compare specific origins from the point of view of two or more cultures. For example, students could create graphic organizers, posters, written reports, and performances comparing origins of the sun. A second idea involves student authorship of a creation story. The third use is student analysis of the how a specific culture shapes the nature of the creation story.
October 1, 2011
This book contains 11 creation stories from all around the world, The story I have chosen to review is one about how the Sun was made and is called ‘Emu and Eagle’s Great Quarrel’, told by Australian Aborigines.
This story is about the world before people when there were only animals, large animals. The era was ‘Dreamtime’ and Biame was the Great Spirit who was creating the world.
The animals lived in darkness and were always quarrelsome. On one particularly grey and gloomy day, the Eagle swooped down to catch a tasty morsel for his supper when, due to the darkness, he flew straight into the Emu. They fought, pecking and clawing each other, pulling out feathers. Then the Emu kicked the Eagle, who became so mad that he took one of the Emu’s eggs and flung it upwards into the sky. The egg landed on the wood that Biame was using to create part of the world and it broke, as it did so the wood caught alight and it gave out a golden, dazzling light. Shining above the world. Everyone was so amazed at how beautiful the world looked that they became happy and contented.
When the fire died down, Biame decided it was too gloomy and asked his spirit helpers to keep the flame alight. So that was how the sun was created and day and night came into being; the bright light in the morning when the fire was fed, to the dull red embers of the approaching night. Following this Biame created the morning star to wake the birds, and as the Kookaburra had an amazing laugh, he asked him to laugh every morning to wake all the other animals. The Kookaburra felt very proud at this request. Thus everyone enjoyed the start of their new day.
The stories in this book are wonderfully magical. They are cross-curricular as they relate to RE, PSHE and Geography, not to mention the endless possibilities within English, Drama and Dance.
This story is about the world before people when there were only animals, large animals. The era was ‘Dreamtime’ and Biame was the Great Spirit who was creating the world.
The animals lived in darkness and were always quarrelsome. On one particularly grey and gloomy day, the Eagle swooped down to catch a tasty morsel for his supper when, due to the darkness, he flew straight into the Emu. They fought, pecking and clawing each other, pulling out feathers. Then the Emu kicked the Eagle, who became so mad that he took one of the Emu’s eggs and flung it upwards into the sky. The egg landed on the wood that Biame was using to create part of the world and it broke, as it did so the wood caught alight and it gave out a golden, dazzling light. Shining above the world. Everyone was so amazed at how beautiful the world looked that they became happy and contented.
When the fire died down, Biame decided it was too gloomy and asked his spirit helpers to keep the flame alight. So that was how the sun was created and day and night came into being; the bright light in the morning when the fire was fed, to the dull red embers of the approaching night. Following this Biame created the morning star to wake the birds, and as the Kookaburra had an amazing laugh, he asked him to laugh every morning to wake all the other animals. The Kookaburra felt very proud at this request. Thus everyone enjoyed the start of their new day.
The stories in this book are wonderfully magical. They are cross-curricular as they relate to RE, PSHE and Geography, not to mention the endless possibilities within English, Drama and Dance.
October 3, 2023
Prachtige verzameling van scheppingsverhalen van over de hele wereld. Fantasievol en d.m.v. de korte verhalen een prima manier om met leerlingen gezamenlijk te lezen en met elkaar over verhalen te praten. Ook prachtige illustraties!
July 14, 2015
When the World Was Young: Creation and Pourquoi Tales retold by Margaret Mayo and illustrated by Louise Brierley 1996
Categories/Genres for this class fulfilled by this book: Traditional Literature
Estimate of age level of interest: Grades K-7
Estimate of reading level: Grade 3
Brief description: Ten creations stories from across the globe are retold in this beautifully illustrated book.
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book: Each of the creation stories in this book is simple and direct, but told in lyrical, masterful prose. Each has an easy-to-follow plot structure - an important characteristic of traditional literature - making it an ideal book for elementary readers. Secondly, the book’s beautiful full-page and small watercolor illustrations add meaning and understanding to each creation myth. These stories spark discussion about the beliefs of various cultures in the ancient world.
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?: When the World Was Young is wonderful as a read aloud for a wide range of readers in elementary and middle school. It may be used intermittently with a study of the ancient world or as an avenue for comparing and contrasting various cultures’ creation myths.
Awards if any:
Links to published reviews from professional sources e.g. ALA, Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ, etc. if any: List of multiple reviews at this link: http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=7...
Categories/Genres for this class fulfilled by this book: Traditional Literature
Estimate of age level of interest: Grades K-7
Estimate of reading level: Grade 3
Brief description: Ten creations stories from across the globe are retold in this beautifully illustrated book.
Identify at least 2 characteristics of this genre and subgenre and discuss how they appear in your book: Each of the creation stories in this book is simple and direct, but told in lyrical, masterful prose. Each has an easy-to-follow plot structure - an important characteristic of traditional literature - making it an ideal book for elementary readers. Secondly, the book’s beautiful full-page and small watercolor illustrations add meaning and understanding to each creation myth. These stories spark discussion about the beliefs of various cultures in the ancient world.
In what ways and how well does the book as a whole serve its intended audience?: When the World Was Young is wonderful as a read aloud for a wide range of readers in elementary and middle school. It may be used intermittently with a study of the ancient world or as an avenue for comparing and contrasting various cultures’ creation myths.
Awards if any:
Links to published reviews from professional sources e.g. ALA, Booklist, Kirkus, SLJ, etc. if any: List of multiple reviews at this link: http://www.titlewave.com/search?SID=7...
December 6, 2014
Een mooi boek met verschillende verhalen over het ontstaan van de mensheid en alles wat leeft.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews