Spanish / Chile
El Sol, la Luna y el Agua. Un cuento de Nigeria
(Sun, Moon and Water. A fairy tale from Nigeria)
Herrera, Laura
(retelling)
Vargas, Ángeles
(illus.)
Santiago de Chile: Ed. Ekaré Sur, 2015. – [30] p.
ISBN 978-956-8868-29-1
Sun | Moon | Water | Creation myth | Folk tale | Picture book
Reading age: 4+
White Ravens issue: 2016
All over the world, human beings have always wondered how the world began and why nature is the way it is.
This picture book retells a well-known Nigerian creation myth, which exists in several different variations. Pondering the beginnings of the world, it explains why the sun and moon are in the sky. They first live together on Earth, until one day they invite Water to visit them. Anticipating trouble, Water states that the space may not be sufficient. So Sun and Moon keep enlarging the house. In the end, it is still too small, as Water brings her enormous family along. Sun and Moon must leave Earth from the rooftop of their house and have lived in the sky ever since then. Only at night, the sun remembers her friend Water and sinks down low to play with her. Laura Herrera narrates this myth in a plain, natural language. Because she builds dialogue and refrains into the text, the story is well suited to reading out loud. The double-page illustrations by Ángeles Vargas are mainly kept to a palette of red, yellow and green tones; their aesthetic is reminiscent of African folk art.