The Star Maiden: An Ojibway Tale

by Barbara Juster Esbensen, Helen K. Davie (Illustrator)

Retelling the North American legend of Star Maiden, wandering the night sky in search of a home on earth

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Native American, Fantasy, Fairy Tales

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

Reviews

[Samantha Sirbaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

1. Received the Minnesota Book Award.
2. For grades 1-5.
3. This is an Ojibway Native American tale that explains how Water lilies came about. The Native Americans saw the star shinning in the nights and the Star Maiden came to one of them in a dream wanting to join them down on Earth. As she searched for the perfect spot on Earth she chose the lake and her sisters of the sky joined her.
4. This is a beautifully written tale of an old legend. The book also contains beautiful illustrations of each page. The pictures could tell the story alone, they are very detailed.
5. This is a great book when talking about legends or tales when teaching genres. It also could be used to connect to history when learning about Native Americans and learning that they would tell stories and tales to explain things on earth and in nature.

[LeAnne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous watercolor paintings with borders reminiscent of Native decorative arts. The text refers to prairies, but the illustrations are evocative of my own woods and lake home in NW Wisconsin. The star maiden wants to come and live with the people on earth, but can't find a suitable home until she sees her reflection in a lake and calls her star sisters to join her--as water lilies.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful retelling of an Ojibway tale. Detailed illustrations and an approachably poetic style of story-telling make for such an enjoyable book.

[Jaide · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Lovely, gentle story with lovely, gentle illustrations.

[Zach Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Star Maiden is an Ojibway Native American legend about a beautiful star that wanted to live on earth. The Star Maiden tried living as a rose, but found it was too far away from the people she enjoyed observing. She tried living as a blue prairie flower, but got trampled by bison. She and her Star Maiden sisters than got together and made a plan. They would live on the lake nearby to the Anishinabe people in the form of water lilies. The people therefore honor the water lilies of today as fallen stars that they revere and respect.

The Star Maiden features stars with human characteristics, a mythical story line, and an origin story with a message of respecting aspects of nature. I would use the story in a biology lesson about the importance of respecting plants. It could be used for 3rd grade.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the tale of how white water lilies came to be in lakes. A star maiden wanted came to rest in the sky right above an indian camp. She wanted to be apart of this land but didnt know what to be. She tried being a rose, but was too far away from the village. She became a field flower, but the earth always rumbled because of the buffalo. She finally floated above the lake, and in the morning there were hundreds of white water lilies in the water; she had finally found what she wanted to be, and it was peaceful.

I loved this book because it told the story of a legend and I generally like this theme. It was a good story line.

I would use this book when my class is learning about native american tales and learning how they lived.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Star Maiden is an Ojibway tale about a star maiden who wants to find a perfect home. The Indian tribe welcomes the star maiden and hope she finds happiness and contentment among them in their restless world. A beautiful story that tells of a people long ago who’s lives and beliefs are very differently than those of today.

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful double illustrations on every other page (an up close illustration of what is happening for most of the page and then a strip panorama about where it's happening make each page of this book worthy of framing. The story is sweet and for once the general people aren't greedy and evil; everyone is nice and welcoming and the conflict is something else. Highly recommended.

[Lynda Breithaupt-Muenzer]

Esbensen, Barbara Juster. The Star Maiden. (1988). This is the retelling of a mythical story based on the 1850 work by the Ojibway chief Kah-ge-ga-gah-bowh. The story tells how water lilies, which are referred to as starflowers, fell to earth from the deep sky. The story takes place a long time ago, when all tribes lived in peace. Nature was optimal with pure, clean streams, full of fish, and the songs of birds were heard from the trees. During the days the people would hunt and gather food and travel across lakes in their self made birchbark canoes. At night they liked to watch the sky and create stories about the moon and the stars. One star seemed to be shining more brilliantly than the others for many nights, so the chief told some braves to go up into the hills to see what it was. The braves felt afraid, but that night one of them had a dream that a silver maiden was the bright light in the sky. She said she was tired of wandering across the sky and wanted to make a home on earth. The brave told the chief of his dream and the chief gathered the wisest men and women of their tribe to decide the maiden's fate. They agreed that she should choose the form she would take on earth. The maiden first slipped into the center of a rose to live, but it was too far from the village and the people. She moved onto a grassy prairie, but the buffalo trampled through and caused the earth to shake so hard it trembled her. One night she drifted over the lake and saw her reflection, along with her sister stars. She called out to them to join her and make the lake their home. Bright lights suddenly appeared on the lake and the chief knew the maiden had finally found peace. The owls hooted and the Loons welcomed the stars. The next day the people saw the starflowers on the lake and knew where they came from. Today they are called water lilies. The illustrations throughout the book were framed in tribal designs and colors of nature. The drawings seemed to be outlined in very thin black ink and filled with eye pleasing colors. Some of the pictures showed people in tribal dress of many different animal furs. The star maiden was wearing an attractive yet simple dress with a large decorative necklace and her hair had several beaded hair wraps. Target age: 4-9. It's a lovely story that children would enjoy as they learn about the Ojibway tribe and it's beliefs.