A perfect bed-time book, I was taken in by the illustrations and the rhythm of the text. The deep blue is an embracing color, and the stars have a soft glow, as reflected by the snow on the ground. Charcoal is an excellent medium for the mood of the story: soft, gentle, and relaxed, one picture fading into the next. The text is smooth and flowing, almost like someone is writing this story just for me. At first I read this story silently, but then I felt myself whisper it, tasting these lyrical words. I liked how this story was more about nature and the cycle of the moon rather than human activities. There are no people except at the beginning and the end, the woman with her baby. The day time is for people, the nighttime is for everything else. The Earth is bathed in moonlight as it guides the animals. The illuminated night scene is a guide for readers as well, traveling through the year with the moon above. The night does seem long, especially in those winter hours.I was moved by Cynthia Rylant’s inspiration of Native American tradition. I was curious, though, about the actual names of the moons. Did Rylant come up with each name herself or is there some root in Native American culture? I’m wondering if Native American calendars even followed a 12-month schedule as ours, especially knowing that ours was developed from Roman culture. I searched for answers on Google, and found that many tribes named 11 or 12 moons out of the year, though the Apache tribe only named five and the
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I also thought that using charcoal was an excellent choice! I'm so glad the illustrator decided against bright, vibrant, colorful paints. This would have changed the meaning (well, maybe not the meaning), but tone of the entire story. I wouldn't have guessed by viewing the front cover this story was about Native Americans. My ancestors are Native Americans and I enjoy reading books on this topic.
I enjoyed this book. The text and illustrations are in perfect harmony with each other. I feel Rylant has found the perfect genre for her craft. I also felt the colors of the illustrations were like an embrace. It is the perfect bedtime book and I found the Native American tie in interesting.
I'm glad you thought to find out more information about the naming practices of different Native American groups. While I don't think Rylant intended this as non-fiction poetry, a note, much like one would find in non-fiction, would have answered this question for us. I had been wondering where they came from since "Native Americans" is such a vague term to use.
I found it interesting that humans were only mentioned in the beginning and the end of the book, too. I did not, however, attribute this to the fact that nighttime is meant for nature. In fact, I wondered if this was intentional of Rylant, or if the illustrator just interpreted this from her poetry. I also enjoyed your research on the Native American traditions. Although I wondered if Rylant based her names from actual names of the moons given by the tribes, I did not do the research. I will have to check out the web addresses you have listed in your blog. Thank you!
I am definately going to check out the links you gave regarding the months and Native American naming of moons. I always like to learn about the origins, research, and background that is incorporated into the creation of a book. It's good to read through a picture book once or twice to form my own impressions, connections, and meanings, but my journey with the text is made even richer with knowing inspirations from the author or illustrator, as well as any factual information which supports the book, whether it is fiction or non-fiction. The illustrator's note in the back was a great way to hear a perspective on this, a perspective not often heard by the reader.
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