How the Sun Made A Promise and Kept It

A Candian Indian Myth

Retold By: Margery Berstein and Janet Kobrin

Illustrated By: Ed Heffernan

Illustrations
I'm truly not one to judge a book by it's cover, but in the case of How the Sun Made A Promise and Kept It, I did. But not because I was drawn to the cover of the book for it's exquisite color or remarkable images. Ah, quite the opposite in fact. I was drawn to the cover of the book due to, in my opinion, the ugliness. The cover appears to have been colored in brown crayon and has a cartoon drawing of a human figure and various oddly shaped creatures. The human figure and the characters have their hands over their eyes and appear to be either tired or frustrated. Nevertheless , I will admit that if I can gather that much from such an ugly image, that the illustrations must be effective in some way. I quickly flipped through the pages before reading and sure enough, ugly. All the pages are colored in the same brown crayon and there are no white spaces whatsoever. The images look like an amateur artist had picked up a pen and scribbled some thoughtless characters in a story. Nevertheless, I can't help but think that my response to the illustrations are reflective of my response to the fact that the story is a myth. When I think of the word "myth," I think of something told a long time ago, a story that is usually strange and/or boring and a story that I have no personal relevance to. But then again, when is the last time that I actually ever sat down to read a myth? I believe it is time to do so now....

Analysis of Text
I liked the story. BUT, I'm sticking to my original thoughts-I still do not like the illustrations! What I liked most about the story was reading about an explanation for the sun's position in the sky, something other than of a scientific nature. It was interesting to think of how Weese-ke-jak made a bargain with the sun to not come too close to the earth but to give enough heat during the day as well. While reading, I thought about how so much of my life is centred on knowing the research for this and knowing the research for that, so it was refreshing to just sit back and let my imagination be sparked. Children learn so much in school that is oftentime just not exciting or meaningful to them, but I feel that this myth enables readers to expand their minds.

Canadian Heritage

My favorite part of the book was when Beaver was the only animal who could set the sun free. The beaver being the national emblem of Canada, I felt such great pride in my nation, even when just reading such a simple, enjoyable myth. Feeling such pride in my country made me think about how in the classroom there should be ample access to multicultural literature for students. Through reading, students gain knowledge and most importantly, find great pride in oneself as a reflection of their nationality.