This retelling of a traditional Native Ameri - can creation myth presents Sky World and Water World, which had always been separate until the day Sky girl tum - bles from above and needs help from the animals of Water World. Visually spell - binding and delightful

In the beginning of time our world was separated into two parts, sky world with all of the people and water world with all of the animals. One day Sky Girl falls into a hole and is saved by the animals in water world. The animals must listen to the Big Turtle in order to save Sky Girl. This Native American folktale explains how the world that we have today came to be and why we have earthquakes. The vibrant colors, illustrations, and story are beautiful making a lovely tale that I think a lot of children would enjoy. ( )

"Big Turtle" is a Huron American Indian creation myth. In the story "Big Turtle", the world was divided into only sky (where humans lived) and water (where animals lived). One day, Sky Girl (pregnant with twins) fell from the sky into the water. Rescued by the backs of the swans, the animals joined together to bring Sky Girl to Big Turtle, because he'd know what to do. Big Turtle told the animals to go get soil from the bottom of the water and put it on his back for Sky Girl to live. The toad dove to get the soil, and was so exhausted he died. When the other animals spread the soil from toad's sacrifice, the turtle's shell formed an island big enough for Sky Girl to have a village. Her descendants became the Earth's first people. The legend in this story is that Big Turtle carries the Earth on his back. When he gets tired and stretches or changes positions, we feel earthquakes. The factor of a wise old turtle telling the other creatures what to do in times of peril is something that I expected, tending to be common in children's folklore books. At the end of the story, McLimans explains how the toad is honored by the Native Americans. They call her Mashutaha, which means Our Grandmother. I would classify this type of folklore with "The Story of The Milky Way" because they have two things in common: A wise being that the commoners turn to with problems, and a tale of how something, usually a phenomenon, came to be. ( )

In the beginning, the world had two parts. There was sky world, and water world. One day, Sky girl who was pregnant with twins fell down into water world. Working together, the animals planned how they could help her. Many animals tried, but only toad was able to dive all the way down and get soil for turtle. With the soil on his back, turtles shell expanded into the land that we know today. Every once in a while, turtle gets uncomfortable and shifts her body, we feel the earth quake.

This is a good creation story for young children. The dialogue is simple and the illustrations are colorful. This could be used in a unit of creation stories by different tribes and cultures as comparison stories.