Moon Mother

While I know that it’s the last day of the month, November is Native American month. So while pickings were slim on children’s books of this genre, we did find one good one left unclaimed, waiting just for us. Moon Mother by Ed Young was a great book to read in recognition of Native American month. Ed Young has written many children’s books stemming from his Native American roots and each are unique and the artwork inside is very beautiful and simple, keeping everyone’s attention without skipping a beat.

In the story, Moon Mother, we learn how the earth and people came to be. We learn about the great sacred spirit man and the moon who’s face belongs to the great, spirit woman who started it all and brought mankind to the earth. From the beautiful grass to the towering trees and rolling hills and valleys, slowly, the spirit man brought the earth to life.  Next he created birds and fish, foxes, bears and deer to try and rid his loneliness. For a time, the animals pleased the spirit man, but soon grew bored with his animal friends. He needed something more, something of more significance.

 The spirit man then created man. He created them all in his image. He taught them how to make bows and spears and how to live off of the land. They were taught how to make shelter to protect themselves from the weather and how to build fire to stay warm and cook meat. The spirit man was very happy with his creation of man and loved and cared for them all. They were his children and they lived very happily for a very long time until another spirit person came from the sky; a woman spirit person and the two spirit people lived together.

“First there was grass, then flowers, then trees, then animals, and last men and women; and this is how it came to be.”

Together, the spirit people created a baby for the men to care for; a baby girl that the men would love and care for. That night there was a new moon in the sky. When the men looked at it they could see the face of the spirit woman. Every night she is carried by her spirit husband so she can play with the stars and look down upon her child. Each time a child is born, they cry because they have lost their moon mother and die when the moon mother turns her face from them.

This really was such a sweet adaptation about all of creation. The only problem that I had with the book is explaining to my children the significance of this in combination with what they have learned going to church with their grandparents. It did bring up quite a few questions as well as the realization that there are other beliefs out there to take a look at and learn about but essentially, we are all the same and we all started out the same way.