SUN STONE DAYS/TONALTIN/DÍAS DE PIEDRA

Fluid brush strokes—more Japanese than Mexican—quickly sketch a jaguar, a buzzard, a dog, a deer, a lizard and other symbols representing the 20 days of the solar month of the ancient Aztecs. This small book includes the black-and-white paintings facing white pages with the words for these images in three languages: English in red print, Nahuatl (language of the Aztec people) in black and Spanish in green. No pronunciation guide is provided. A complex explanation of the Aztec calendar in English and Spanish follows a full-color illustration of the “Sun Stone,” a detailed carved object found in 1790. Many elements of the Aztec religion and calendar are found in this stone, including the days of the months, but the small size of the book does not allow the reader to easily examine the symbols. As the original is almost 12 feet in diameter, this is a shame. Despite its handsome presentation, this is more of a gift book for adults and not one that will help children make sense of the Aztec culture. (Picture book/nonfiction. All ages)