Sun Mother Wakes the World: An Australian Creation Story Book

Title: Sun Mother Wakes the World: An Australian Creation Story
Author: Diane Wolkstein
Illustrator: Bronwyn Bancroft
Genre: Myth
Theme(s): Australian folklore, creation, Australian aborigines, nature, day and night
Opening line/sentence:
The indigenous people of Australia believe that their first ancestors created the world and its laws.

Brief Book Summary:
Everything on Earth was sleeping until Sun Mother awoke from her spot in the sky. She flies down onto the Earth and wakes all of the living things with her light, but darkness returns when she has to return to the sky. However, Sun Mother creates Moon and Morning Star to give living things light at night, and the Sun Mother promises to return each day to provide light for the earth.

Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
This Creation story begins in darkness and silence. A voice wakes Sun Mother, who brings light to awaken the sleeping earth, plants, and trees. Then the voice sends Sun Mother into dark caves, to bring forth insects, snakes, animals, and other creatures. Sun Mother then returns to the sky. The animals fear the dark she leaves behind, but she returns to visit each day. When they quarrel, she allows them to choose their own forms. Then she gives birth to Moon and Morning Star, for light at night. Finally they give birth to the first man and woman. Sun Mother welcomes them, but tells them that they must keep the earth alive and look after their birthplace. Bancroft, an indigenous Australian, draws upon the symbols and colors of the Aboriginal Dreamtime tradition in her double-page painted illustrations. They maintain much of the mystery of the verbal narrative, exploiting encapsulated shapes, dot patterns and designs, simple animal outlines, and strong color contrasts for mystical but emotionally moving exotic imagery. A note on the Dreamtime tries to explain this concept, which is so different from Western tradition. There is also an extensive note on the author's sources. This story is interesting to compare to other Creation tales and it's interesting as an explanation of the ecological concerns of native Australians.

Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
From Horn Book Guide Online:
(3) K-3 Illustrated by Bronwyn Bancroft. Dealing with the explanation of day and night, the characteristics of Australian animals, and the beginnings of human life, this story is illustrated with vibrant paintings by an artist with Aboriginal roots. Wolkstein, as usual, is careful to give the provenance of the story in full detail, thus telling the reader that the story may have European themes as well as Aboriginal origins.

Response to Two Professional Reviews:
This creation story was applauded for its vibrant illustrations done in paint, and both reviewers mentioned how powerfully the colors represented Aboriginal tradition. Both reviewers mention the author's introduction page about the indigenous people of Australia's beliefs regarding the world, and I agree that without this background information, the story could not be followed as easily. Even though this story explains how day and night came to exist, I think the reviewers overlooked the fact that there are other creation explanations within the story, such as when the Sun Mother gave the animals a chance to change their bodies. These changes allowed by the Sun Mother could explain why kangaroos have a pouch or why wombats have strong claws today.

Evaluation of Literary Elements:
Because it is a creation story, the theme of the story revolves around the idea of the creation of night and day. The beginning of the story opens with short, powerful phrases to describe the darkness of the earth, which gets the reader engaged especially with an all black background and white text. The Sun Mother is portrayed using the color yellow, which could represent life, and her outline and features are all rounded lines, which creates a sense of safety when the reader sees the character. The illustrations have a lot of patterns included in them, which represents the Aboriginal culture and traditions, adding to the overall theme.

Consideration of Instructional Application:
I would use this book in a second to fourth grade classroom to teach about myths and culture-specific folktales. After reading the story out loud, I would ask students to analyze the illustrations and point out how they differ from traditional picture book illustrations (patterns, colors used, curvy lines). I would want to go in depth about the Aboriginal culture and traditions by reviewing what they believe in by reading their creation beliefs on the first page of the book. Furthermore, students could independently research other folktales and myths and share with the class one of a different culture's beliefs.